In Pioneer Nat. Res. USA, Inc. v. Elberta M. Royalty, LLC, a Texas court held that a lease calling for payment of royalty on the “net amount received by Lessee for the sale” of oil and gas required lessee Pioneer to pay its lessor Elberta on a cotenant’s production from first
Gringita, Ltd v. Ineos USA Oil and Gas, LLC et al is in a way a typical Texas royalty dispute in which the lessor’s royalty is “free of post-production costs” (PPCs) according to one provision of the lease, but maybe isn’t so free if one considers another provision.
The facts
Gringita owns
“Better the end of a thing than the beginning thereof … .” Ecclesiastes 7:8. The writer was probably prophesying about Texas’ never-ending double-fraction mineral disputes.
Next up: Ovintive USA, Inc. et al v. High Noon Resources, LLC et al in which the Eastland Court of Appeals found that a 1958 mineral deed reserved a fixed
It’s often helpful when courts are asked to construe joint operating agreements. Not always, though. Courts sometimes don’t understand or fail to take into account industry custom and practice and the underlying purposes behind the JOA, especially the Model Form. Evans Resources LP v. Petroplex Energy Inc. appears, at first blush, not to be
We at Energy and the Law solemnly swear and affirm that we will no longer report on the Van Dyke Presumption just as soon as litigants – win, lose or remand – exhaust their efforts to confirm, refute, distinguish or overcome it. Until then …
By a 1956 deed the Hoffmans conveyed
After reading Devon Energy Production Company, L.P. v. Oliver if you’ recall a similar post-production cost dispute, it was last week. And the result was the same. Royalties under this lease are to be calculated at the wellhead (where there are no PPC’s) and not on a downstream market price
In Fasken Oil and Ranch, Ltd. v. Puig the Supreme Court of Texas resolved whether a deed conveying a non-participating royalty interest “free of costs forever” relieved the royalty owners from bearing postproduction costs for minerals sold downstream. Under the language in the deed in this case, it did not.
The
Way back in 2023 it was predicted that the Supreme Court of Texas’ decision in Van Dyke v. Navigator would spawn years of litigation. How right the predictions were!
Davis v. Aethon Energy Operating LLC is more for lawyers than business people but it is worth noting. A Texas court of appeals affirmed a take-nothing judgment against lessors who sued over the lessee’s failure to provide required information on check stubs. The question asked of the jury did not match the