When you ask a Texas oil and gas or real estate attorney to draft a deed for you, one of the first things they will ask you is just what do you want to convey: the surface, the water rights, the mineral interest, only royalties from the mineral interest or…
In a case that is probably a recurring nightmare for oil and gas attorneys, the Texas Court of Appeals recently addressed the question of what constitutes a material change to a written agreement involving the purchase of oil and gas leases in the case of Ranger Energy LLC v. Tonya…
Texas oil and gas lawyers occasionally find themselves representing non-executive mineral owners. A non-executive mineral or royalty owner is someone who owns oil or gas royalty rights to a particular area of land, but who does not have the right to negotiate or sign a lease for the minerals and…
Texas oil companies, mineral owners and oil and gas attorneys are all familiar with the Texas Railroad Commission. The Commission regulates oil and gas drilling and production and oil and gas pipelines in Texas. The Commission is pretty diligent in making sure abandoned wells are properly plugged. Unfortunately, on one…
Texas landowners and oil and gas attorneys have been watching Senate Bill 740 with interest. This bill, introduced by several Texas senators, would have increased landowner protections in the event a pipeline company sought to obtain an easement on their property using eminent domain. You can read the full text…
There is a controversy between the Texas Railroad Commission and the US Army Corps of Engineers that is being followed closely by many Texas oil and gas attorneys and mineral owners. The Texas Railroad Commission is the state’s oil and gas regulator, and last year it bumped heads with the…
The Texas Supreme Court recently delivered an opinion that was not surprising to Texas oil and gas attorneys in the case of Forest Oil Corporation v. El Rucio Land and Cattle Co. The Court originally denied the review of the Corpus Christi Appeals Court decision affirming a $15 million dollar…
A case that has gained attention in the Texas oil and gas industry is the case of Samson Exploration v. T.S. Reed Properties which is currently awaiting a decision by the Texas Supreme Court. The case involves three gas wells and two mistakenly overlapping pooling units in Hardin County, Texas. …
The Texas 14th Court of Appeals recently decided the case an interesting case, Clay Exploration, Inc. v. Santa Rosa Operating, LLC, concerning who has the right to execute oil and gas leases for unknown owners. In 1889 Frederick Kastan and Gustav Heye purchased 102 acres in Grimes County, Texas. Subsequently,…
The case of Rippy Interests LLC. v. Nash, LLC is interesting because it examines what type of operations will keep a Texas oil and gas lease in force after the primary term has expired, and also what constitutes a repudiation of an oil and gas lease in Texas. On January…