The question in Self v, BPX Operating Company is how to balance the Louisiana Civil Code Art 2292 principle of negotiorum gestio against Louisiana’s conservation statutes.
When a tract of land is subject to a unit formed under La. R.S. 30:9(B) and 30:10(A(1) and the tract is not subject to a lease, the unit
Freeeport-McMoRan Oil and Gas, LLC and Ovintiv USA Inc. v. 1776 Energy Partners LLC presented a recurring question faced by Texas oil and gas producers: When can proceeds of production be withheld by the operator without liability for interest?
Ovintiv and its predecessor operator, Freeport-McMoRan, represented by Gray Reed partners Jim Ormiston and David Leonard
The issue in QBE Syndicate 1036 v. Compass Minerals Louisiana, LLC was whether the scope of the Louisiana Oilfield Indemnification Act applies to operations involving salt mining?
QBE issued a commercial general liability insurance policy to FSS and MC Electric. Clements, an employee of MC Electric, was electrocuted while working in the Cote Blanche salt
This seems to be the season for oil patch courts to return property to its rightful owners. Last week it was a regulatory taking by the City of Dallas. This week it is Northwest Landowners Association v. State of North Dakota, in which the North Dakota Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional on its face a
Co-author Jeremy WalterArk Sand Co., Inc. v. Bradley Demolition & Constr., LLC, et al has the appearance of a Hatfield and McCoy-grade grudge match. As often happens when litigation gets personal, the Texas Citizens Participation Act was invoked. The TCPA is the statute that protects citizens’ First Amendment rights such as free speech and
You might recall this post on Broadway National Bank, Trustee v. Yates Energy Corporation. We now have Yates Energy Corporation et al v. Broadway National Bank, Trustee, the court of appeals’ ruling after remand. Recall the result from the Supreme Court: Execution of the 2013 Amended Correction Mineral Deed by the parties to the original 2005 Mineral Deed and the 2006 Correction Mineral Deed, without joinder of the current owners of the minerals, complied with Texas Property Code §5.029. The question remaining was whether the current owners were bona fide purchases for value without notice. Skipping all sorts of rulings on side issues, the result is that current owner Yates was not a BFP. Other appellants survived to fight another day.
Continue Reading Texas Correction Deed Statute Revisited … Again
Co-author Brittany BlakeyIn re: Estate of Robert Scott Masters, Deceased reveals the price to be paid for failing to timely admit a will to probate or as a muniment of title.
Know this about Texas probate law
The Estates Code requires that a will be submitted for probate (or as a muniment of title)
Those who continue to be horrified by Broadway National Bank, Trustee v. Yates Energy Corp. should be relieved that the result in Endeavor Energy Resources, LP v. Anderson was more equitable. In Yates, the Texas Supreme Court held that Texas Property Code Section 5.029 permitted original parties to a conveyance to execute a
Co-author Darien HarrisThe Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code, Chapter 95, limits a property owner’s liability when an independent contractor hired to construct, repair, renovate or modify an improvement to the owner’s property brings a negligence claim that arises “from the condition or use of the improvement.” The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the property owner is free from liability when negligence elsewhere contributes to the plaintiff’s injuries. But the contributing negligence must involve the condition or use of the improvement on which the plaintiff was working.
If you’ve stayed with us this far you must be a lawyer.
The facts
In Energen Res. Corp. v. Wallace, Energen hired Nabors and New Prospect to drill an oil well in Pecos County. Energen contracted Dubose Drilling to complete a water well that would assist the oil well drilling operation. Dubose subcontracted with Elite Drillers to complete the water well. Elite’s president, Wallace, supervised the water well project. Because the wells were only 500 feet from each other, Energen and Elite more or less worked side-by-side.
Continue Reading Operator Escapes Liability For a Gas Kick and Resulting Fire
Author Ethan WoodLouisiana’s compulsory pooling scheme seeks to balance the interests of individual landowners and oil and gas operators to promote responsible development of natural resources. Because of compulsory pooling, operators are not held hostage by individual landowners who refuse to lease, but landowners are afforded protections so as not to be taken for