Unit Petroleum Company v. Koch Energy Services, LLC is another force majeure case arising out of winter storm Uri. Unlike a similar case, summary judgment was denied because, said the United States District Court,
The word “reasonable”, although not ambiguous, is a question of fact that must be answered by looking into the circumstances of
In Cactus Water Services LLC v. COG Operating, LLC., a divided Texas court of appeals answered the question this way: The oil and gas producer prevails over the purchaser of the surface owner’s right to own and sell produced water.
The majority discussed the composition of produced water. To
In Smart v. 3039 RNC Holdings LLC, the court reminds us that it will harmonize all parts of a contract, even one that “is not a model of clarity”, to reach the correct result.
RNC owned the surface and 50% of the mineral estate in a 45.6 acre tract in Karnes County. RNC agreed
The plain, ordinary, and generally accepted meaning of a word doesn’t mean “anything goes”. It depends on context, says the Supreme Court of Texas in Finley Resources Inc. v. Headington Royalty Inc., a dispute over the meaning of “predecessors”. For the underlying facts see our post on the court of appeals decision.
The release
Tips on litigation avoidance: Not making promises you don’t intend to keep is easy enough. Stating a fact or making a promise and things change, you could be a fraudster if you don’t come clean before closing.That’s the takeaway in Baxsto, LLC v. Roxo Energy Co., a Texas Court of Appeals
In TotalEnergies E&P USA, Inc. v. MP Gulf of Mexico LLC. the Supreme Court of Texas resolved the chaos created by conflicting dispute resolution regimes in three contracts for ownership and operation of an offshore unit and gathering system. The essential question: Did the parties agree that an arbitrator, rather than the courts
As you negotiate your master service agreements are you confident that you know how insurance choices might affect indemnity obligations? Me neither. That’s why I turn to my Gray Reed partner Darin Brooks and his insurance coverage lawyers. I didn’t consult them about this post so all errors are on me, not them.
A basic
MIECO, LLC v. Pioneer Natural Resources presented a challenge to a force majeure defense in a dispute arising from Winter Storm Uri. The defense carried the day.
MIECO agreed to purchase 20,000 MMBtu/day of natural gas from Pioneer. Pioneer delivered residue gas from the tailgate of a Targa processing plant to two points near the
In Devon Energy Production Company, LP et al v. Sheppard et al, the Supreme Court of Texas construed what it referred to as a “bespoke” and “highly unique” royalty clause in several oil and gas leases to prohibit the producers from deducting out of the lessor’s royalty post-production costs incurred downstream of the point of
Ellison v. Three Rivers Acquisition LLC et al., on remand from the Texas Supreme Court, is the third round of a boundary dispute between mineral lessees in Irion County.
For the history of Ms. Ellison’s odyssey from court to court to court, see our 2019 post discussing the first Court