At Looper Reed we advise our clients that it is good business to accommodate your neighbor informally, if you can. Sometimes that leads to attempted world domination, as Chamberlain learned from Hitler in 1938. Closer to home it is my college-age son using his bedroom floor as a summertime closet. It can also lead to
President to Unveil Energy Policy
Politico and other sources report that President Obama promised a crowd of supporters in northern California recently that he would unveil his climate change strategy sometime soon. What it might look like is unknown. It has been suggested that the policy will revolve around EPA pollution sources like power plants.
It is reported that there
Texas Well Integrity Rule Revised
Co-author Jason Emmitte
The Texas Railroad Commission has clarified and strengthened Rule 13, relating to requirements for drilling, putting pipe down, and cementing wells. The amendment will go into effect on January 1, 2014.
Generally, the revisions govern the casing and cementing of all wells, unlike previous versions. Highlights are:
- New and more precise
Oil and Gas Bills Passed By Texas Legislature
Co-author Travis Booher
The regular session of the 2013 Texas Legislature is over and now it’s time to assess the damage. Bills significant to the oil and gas industry, and their fate, are as follows:
HB 100 – Forced unitization: Failed. Regardless of your opinion of the merits, this was no surprise.
SB 108 –
Perils of Proportionate Reduction, and a Detour Through D-Day
First, an admission and a regret: My June 6 post missed the 69th anniversary of an episode as significant as any in our country’s history: D-Day. I think I know why. As time passes and the participants in that venture become fewer, there aren’t as many left to tell the story, the celebrations dwindle, and
Pipeline Loses Effort to Condemn Private Land
Co-author Chance Decker
Private property rights advocates scored a big victory in a Texas condemnation case in the ongoing battle between pipelines and landowners over the power of eminent domain. (See our last post for a decision with the opposite result).
An appeals court in Crosstex NGL Pipeline, LP v. Reins Road Farms, Ltd. denied
Keystone XL Can Take Land Before Appeals are Exhausted
Co-author Chance Decker
Two recent cases from the same Texas court reflect the ongoing uncertainty over the threat to private property rights posed by the Keystone XL and other pipelines. Is there a theme, a common thread, running through law on this subject? Not in Texas. Today we discuss one of these decisions, Next time
The Fracking Debate is Not Unique to the United States.
I spent the better part of last week surrounded by foreigners … which is to be expected because I was in a foreign country, the Netherlands to be precise. Looper Reed has joined First Law International, a consortium of select, highly-rated law firms in over 45 countries, assembled to give businesses in one country,
Is the Oil and Gas Industry Undertaxed?
The short answer is no, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The API compared oil and gas to other industries in terms of profit margin and effective tax rate. The oil and gas industry-wide profit margin is 7.3%, which is lower than manufacturing (8.6%), computers and peripherals (9.7%), pharmaceuticals (16.0%) and beverage and tobacco
Lessor is Not Entitled to Royalty on Hedging Profits
A Louisiana lessee does not owe its lessor royalties based on hedging profits, said a federal district court in Cimarex Energy Co. v. Chastant. Cimarex, the lessee, hedged its gas contracts and didn’t pay its lessor, Chastant, earnings from the hedge.
As the court described it, hedging involves buying and selling financial positions as