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.
Green v. Chesapeake Expl., L.L.C., No. 02-17-00405-CV, 2018 Tex.; App. LEXIS 10307 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth Dec. 13, 2018, no pet.) In urban oil and gas plays such as the Barnett Shale, horizontal drilling has "paved the way" for oil and gas operators to drill through...
OBO, Inc. v. Apache Corp., 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 8392, (Tex.Civ.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2018, no pet.) Parties to a joint operating agreement sometimes elect to have a non-owner serve as the operator. For example, interest owners may determine that they are unwilling or unable to perform the...
Three recent Texas cases have focused on the interpretation of express offset provisions in oil and gas leases. Over the last year, the Texas oil and gas industry has experienced what some commentators have called “Shale Boom 2.0,” with increased drilling activity in South Texas and the Permian Basin,...
McGinnis Lochridge's Oil & Gas Newsletter: Producer's Edge keeps clients informed about Texas oil and gas case law, regulatory updates, and insightful articles relevant to the oil and gas community. In this first edition, we highlight several recent Texas oil and gas cases. We also highlight...
In June 2018, the Dallas Court of Appeals issued its memorandum opinion in Tollet v. Surface, holding that an ambiguous royalty provision in a groundwater lease, when read in light of the parties' course of dealings, allowed the lessee to make royalty payments once per month with a 90-day...
The Texas Supreme Court issued a narrow 5-4 opinion in Murphy Exploration & Production Co. — USA v. Adams on June 1, 2018, interpreting a common “offset” clause contained in a 2009 oil and gas lease. The majority held that the phrase “offset well” in that clause does not necessarily refer...
