Sponsoring the most paranoid Texas conspiracy theory since the puff of smoke from the grassy knoll, groups of neighborhood associations, homeowners, and businesses sued virtually all of the major Barnett Shale producers over their failure to complete negotiations for oil and gas leases for bonuses of up to $20,000 per acre. Cessation of negotiations –
“Paying Quantities” Revisited After 113 Years
Surely, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has been busy since century before last, but apparently not on a lot of oil and gas cases. The court revisited the standard, first established in 1899, for determining whether an oil and gas lease has produced in paying quantities. In T.W. Phillips Gas & Oil Co. v. Jedlicka,
“Gotcha. I have a contract!”
So said the lessor-plaintiffs in Walker v. Chesapeake Louisiana, L.P. The lessee-defendant, the trial court, and the court of appeals said “Yes, but . . .”. The lessors accused the lessee of breaching six leases and sought cancellation. The court invoked the doctrine of “judicial control” that allows a court to avoid cancellation when equity