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
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
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
City of Crowley v. TotalEnergies E&P USA, is a post-production cost (PPC) case with a predictable result. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals confirmed its reasoning in Shirlaine W. Props. Ltd. v. Jamestown Res., L.L.C from 2021, that under a market-value oil and gas lease, gas sold at the wellhead means
Fasken Ranch Ltd et al v. Puig et al featured a reservation in the sale of a ranch of an undivided 1/16 non-participating royalty interest “free of cost forever.” What does that mean? In particular, does it mean that the royalty owners must bear their share of post-production costs? The answer is No. Read
In Self v. BPX Operating, a case with significant implications for Louisiana operators and royalty owners, the Supreme Court of Louisiana ruled that the doctrine of negotiorum gestio in La. Civil Code art. 2292 does not allow the operator of a drilling unit created by Louisiana’s conversation laws to withhold post-production expenses (PPCs) from
In Carl v. Hillcorp Energy the Supreme Court of Texas addressed the relationship between the lessee’s use of gas off-premises under a free-use clause and the lessor’s burden to share post-production costs (PPCs) under the at-the-well gas royalty clause of an oil and gas lease. Spoiler alert: Lessee wins.
The basics
Minerals that have been
In Devon Energy Production Company, LP et al v. Sheppard et al, the Supreme Court of Texas construed what it referred to as a “bespoke” and “highly unique” royalty clause in several oil and gas leases to prohibit the producers from deducting out of the lessor’s royalty post-production costs incurred downstream of the point of