My mother used to give us good advice. For example: Don’t lie … do your homework. Sabella v. Appalachian Development Corporation agrees with my mother.
Sabella bought minerals in 1997 under 66 acres in Warren County, Pennsylvania, on which the Haners had two producing wells (under a 144-acre lease from the Harveys). They weren’t paying
Co-author Brooke SizerHalloween is approaching, so let’s talk poltergeists – troublesome spirits that haunt a specific location. Where do they come from? In Quality Environmental Processes, Inc. v I.P. Petroleum Company, Inc., it was from a faulty property description that lay dormant for 30 years before beginning its vexations.
The Demon is Spawned
… in the right places.
In French vs. Occidental Permian, Ltd. the Texas Supreme Court held that costs associated with injection of carbon dioxide into a reservoir in a tertiary recovery operation were properly deducted from royalties.
This case reflects court’s awareness of improvements in oil recovery created by new technology, in
You might recall that North Dakota achieved nationwide notoriety when photos of flaring Bakken wells visible from space circulated around the news. According to the U. S. Department of Energy, at times North Dakota has flared 33% of its gas production, compared to the 1% average nationwide.
You will not be surprised
Welcome to part two of the hair-splitting decision in Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. v. Hyder. See our prior post about the basic facts.
More Facts
In addition to their cost-free royalty clause for wells on the leased premises, the Hyders also received an overriding royalty interest on wells drilled from pads located
Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. v. Hyder is another hair-splitting Texas decision about “cost-free royalties”.
The Facts
The Hyder family executed a lease covering 1,037 acres. Chesapeake drilled 22 wells on the leased premises. The Hyders believed their lease provided for a “cost free” royalty; that is, no post-production deductions. Chesapeake deducted post-production
Consider this while celebrating the resurrection of Big Tex: When a lease prohibits post-production cost deductions, can a lessee deduct those costs from a lessor’s royalty? Yes, says Potts v. Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. In a market value lease, where lessee sells the gas “at the well” and the court applies the netback approach to calculating
It must be maddening to non-lawyers that a large segment of an industry can operate in harmony by agreeing that a contract in widespread use means one thing, only to have party-crashers decide it means another. Total E & P U.S.A., Inc. v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. et al arose out
If you are involved in a royalty case, or plan to be, read Occidental Permian, Ltd. v. French et al. The appellate court decided there was no evidence to support the trial court’s findings that the lessors were underpaid. (See my too-long December 6 post for the underlying facts.) In this case the plaintiffs were
One impediment to the correct resolution of lessors’ claims for unpaid royalties is the complexity of the contractual arrangements between producers and purchasers of production. Occidental Permian, Ltd. v. French et al offers a good example.
It is also a refresher on the basic rules of royalty calculation in Texas and, for royalty owners in