Recently, the U.S. Geological Survey published a new assessment of oil and gas reserves in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico. The assessment, that you can read here, reports undiscovered, technically recoverable, continuous mean resources of 46.3 billion barrels of oil and 281 trillion cubic feet of gas…
A recent opinion by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed a claim by royalty owners that Devon Energy Production Company LP violated its implied duty to market arising from their oil and gas leases with Devon in the Barnett Shale area. That case is Seeligson et al v. Devon…
As many Texas landowners are aware, oil and gas pipelines are being constructed at an almost frantic pace these days. The first time a landowner is aware that they may be asked to sign a pipeline easement is a usually a call from a land man or right-of-way agent requesting…
In Ridge Natural Resources, LLC v. Double Eagle Royalty, LP, 2018 WL 4057283 (Tex.Civ.App.- El Paso 2018), a case involving a dispute over ownership of mineral interests in Winkler County, Texas, the El Paso Court of Appeals upheld a mandatory arbitration clause in an oil and gas royalty lease.…
In general, Texas courts will enforce contracts — including oil and gas contracts — as those contracts are written unless the contract violates statutory law or public policy. These principles apply equally to choice of law provisions that may be inserted into oil and gas contracts. A recent case from…
Texas law strongly endorses the concept of freedom to contract and our courts have frequently emphasized this by enforcing the intent of the contracting parties. Indeed, intent of the parties is enforced even if the parties use words erroneously. An example of this comes from the case of Thompson v.…
The recent case of Devon Energy Production Co. v. Apache Corporation, Case No. 11-16-00105-CV (Tex.Civ.App.- Eastland 2018, pet. filed) addressed a novel question under Texas law about whether an oil company cotenant owed royalty payments to the other co-tenant oil company’s lessors. The trial court said no and the Court…
In 2017, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1217, which allows Texas notaries to do remote notarization. Beginning July 1, 2018, commissioned notaries can apply to be commissioned as an Online Notary Public. In August 2017, the Texas Secretary of State published the revised administrative rules that govern the new…
The course of dealings between the parties over a period of time can lead to modifications and waivers of provisions within an oil and gas lease and related contracts. A recent Dallas Court of Appeals case, Tollett v. MPI Surface, LLC, Case No. 05-17-00435-CV (Tex.Civ.App.- Dallas, no writ), illustrates that…
A recent case from the Texas Court of Appeals in Waco held that the Texas Statute of Frauds — Tex. Bus. & Com. Code, § 26.01 — rendered a land man’s commission contract unenforceable. The Court also upheld the trial court’s determination that none of the exceptions to the Statute…