Austin represents Texas operators and non-operators in complex issues and disputes. He seeks practical solutions to avoid litigation, but adopts aggressive courtroom strategies when necessary.
The joint operating agreement (“JOA”) is the most commonly used instrument in the oil and gas industry, surpassed only by the oil and gas lease. In essence, a JOA provides the contractual basis for the cooperative exploration, development, and production of oil and gas properties among multiple leasehold cotenants. By...
There is a debate among Wyoming oil and gas attorneys, and I wanted to weigh in. Some (maybe even many) Wyoming lawyers believe an overriding royalty interest simply cannot be pooled in Wyoming without the owner's direct and express consent. Of course, this is only a debate in...
"Legalese Schmegalese." I first started reviewing contracts back in my days working with TIC Wyoming, Inc., a subsidiary of the Kiewitt Corporation, reviewing large scale heavy industrial construction contracts for construction jobs such as oil refineries, natural gas compressor stations, and coal mine facilities. I'll be...
Introduction As I stated in my Part One of my Farmout Agreement Series, farmout agreements can be somewhat less "straight-forward" than other common oil and gas agreements. Contracts, Leases, JOA's, for example, are each highly standardized and have one or more publishers of highly-adopted forms. Farmout...
The Proliferation of Forms: The wide-spread use of forms in the oil and gas industry has created nothing short of a revolution in allowing land professionals to expedite the process of putting complex agreements in place. Additionally, this "forms culture" has dramatically helped to ensure excellent quality legal...
Purpose and Application of Mineral Liens Everyone in the construction industry is intimately familiar with the "Mechanic's Lien," which gives a security interest in the title to real property (and sometimes personal property) to those who have supplied materials or labor to improve the property. In...
