The Railroad Commission of Texas (the RRC) is planning to amend their permit rule for oil and gas pipelines. The section to be amended, section 3.70, involves the pipeline permit procedure. The RRC invited comments on the changes until August 25, 2014. The issue has become a hot topic, especially…
The Texas Railroad Commission approved a substantial amendment to its oil and gas pipeline permit rule on December 2, 2014, and the amendment has major significance for Texas landowners and Texas mineral owners. The rule is Texas Railroad Commission Rule 3.70, and the amended rule goes into effect on March…
The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently published their decision in Holt Texas, Limited and Transamerican Underground, Limited v. Stephen J. Zayler, a case which concerned a bankrupt oil and gas company. Holt Texas, Ltd. (“Holt”) and Transamerica Underground Limited (“TAUG”) who were subcontractors of the now bankrupt…
Recently the Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals issued an interesting decision in the case of Warren et al. v. Chesapeake. This very important case for Texas mineral owners is based on a lawsuit against Chesapeake Exploration for what the Plaintiffs claimed was the wrongful deduction of post-production costs from the…
New oil and gas pipelines are being constructed in Texas at an almost frantic pace. Just this week, Lone Star NGL LLC announced that it has received the go-ahead from its board to lay a new natural gas liquids pipeline from the Permian basin in West Texas to Mont Belvieu,…
After three years of meetings and study, the American Petroleum Institute issued a new set of guidelines for community interaction by oil and gas operators involved with unconventional oil and gas exploration. The document is called “Community Engagement Guidelines” and outlines recommendations for oil and gas development consistent with the…
There is a threat to oil and gas companies that seems to have been under the radar so far, and that threat is hackers. It is a problem that can effect oil and gas companies and also energy investment firms. Nicole Perlroth at the New York Times published an article…
As readers of this blog know, we have been following the case of Marcia Fuller French, et al. v. Occidental Permian Ltd., which is an important Texas case involving gas royalties. You can read our previous blog post here. The case was heard by the Supreme Court of Texas on…
The price of crude oil has been continuing to fall over the last few days. By some benchmarks, crude oil prices in Texas and globally are near to a four year low. For example, West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) was recently reported at $81.84 per barrel, well below the $100 to…
The Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University has recently made available an educational video entitled “Inside Fracking” that explains the process of fracing oil and gas wells. (I still believe the correct spelling is “fracing”). You can access the video here. If you are wondering just what…