The big trade-secret case, Southwestern Energy v. Berry-Helfand, reported on these pages here and here, has been worked over by the Texas Supreme Court. Highlights:
Let’s start with a little background: Under the Accommodation Doctrine an oil and gas lessee has an implied right to use the land as reasonably necessary to produce and remove the minerals, but must exercise the right with due regard for the landowner’s rights.
As a result of Coyote Lake Ranch v. City of Lubbock
Co-author Trevor Lawhorn ∗Escondido and Justapor. Next up on Tiny Desk Concert? Good guess, but no. They are the parties in Escondido v. Justapor, a Texas case presenting the perils of lease termination clauses and vaguely-drawn contracts.
The agreements
Justapor as lessor and Escondido as lessee entered into an oil and gas lease
What’s a sure way to destroy untold millions of dollars of energy infrastructure value built in reliance on the promise of reimbursement for huge capital investments necessary to move a producer’s product to market for the next 20 years or more?
Here’s another one: What’s a helpful way to effect the goal of bankruptcy reorganization
“Back in the day, when the Yankees always won the World Series and you could name a park after a Confederate general, we didn’t need no written contract; a man’s word was his bond, … yadda, yadda, yadda”.
Three things about that saying strike me. First, it was always a man; second, “the day” was
How is that, you say?
More on the Les mess:
Are you an operator who hires contractors on location, … a contractor who hires subcontractors, … the party to be indemnified for injuries to the other party’s employees? This post is for you.
Salas v. Allen Keller Company One, LLC, is not about master service agreements, but it is instructive. Want to avoid responsibility for
Football pundits like to discuss Red Zone effectiveness. Driving to the goal line doesn’t much matter if you don‘t score. So, why would a negotiating party fail to score an enforceable contract while negotiating from the Red Zone:
You do, whether you are a vendor or an operator. Matador Production Company vs. Weatherford Artificial Lift Systems, Inc. is a treatise on what can go wrong with a frac job: Failure of pumps, worker inexperience, failure of the “delayed release gel breaker”, failure to clean gel hoses, failure to pump enough gel and proppant
Co-author Brooke SizerIt’s been said that your most important decisions are made when you write your contract, not when you have to sue on it. Kachina Pipeline Company v. Lillis agrees.
In a gas-purchase agreement, can the pipeline operator (Kachina) deduct costs of compression from its payments to the producer (Lillis).
“No”, said the