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-...
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...
On Friday, January 6, 2017, the Texas Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Denbury Green Pipeline–Texas, LLC v. Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd. (“Texas Rice II”), ((15-0225, 2017 WL 65470 (Tex. Jan. 6, 2017).)) holding that: 1. Denbury’s evidence of a post-construction transportation agreement...
Texas House Bill 2207, effective January 1, 2016, statutorily subordinates certain real estate mortgages to oil and gas leases, introducing an interesting tweak to the long-standing and well-established "first in time, first in right" rule. However, this statute is not without its limitations. For example, it...
Originally appearing in the Energy Expert Analysis Section of Law360. Law360, New York (September 25, 2015) -- Over the last five years, American shale production has more than tripled. Since last October, however, the oil and gas industry has trudged through a long and pronounced slump in crude oil prices in...
On September 21, 2015, the North Dakota Supreme Court issued its opinion in Border Res., LLC v. Irish Oil & Gas, Inc., – N.W.2d -—, 2015 WL 5519421, 2015 ND 238 (N.D. 2015), where it reviewed two primary issues: (1) whether a field land services company owed a fiduciary...
