Oil and Gas UpdateLeasing/TitlesGood News for West Virginia’s Oil and Gas ProducersApril 11, 2022 The 2022 legislative session resulted in the passage of two bills of significance to oil and gas operators. First, Senate Bill 650 was passed (effective June 30, 2022). With this bill, the 2018 Co-Tenancy Modernization and Majority Protection Act is modified to eliminate the requirement that there be seven or more cotenants in order to utilize the provisions of the Act. Thus, the Act is now… Pennsylvania Appellate Court Decides "Rule of Capture" Does Not Preclude Liability From Trespass Due To Hydraulic FracturingJune 12, 2018 In a decision which may have severe consequences on oil and gas operations not only in Pennsylvania, but nationwide, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held on April 2, 2018, in Briggs. v. Southwestern Energy Production Company, 2018 PA Super 79 (Apr. 2, 2018) that the “rule of capture” would not preclude liability for trespass of oil and gas operations due to hydraulic fracturing.
The rule of… Gas Producer Sues WVDEP for Declaration that “Flat Rate Statute” Unconstitutionally Impairs Flat Rate Gas LeasesApril 24, 2018 Historically, oil and gas leases have been of two types— those with flat rates and those with production-based royalties. In the “flat rate” leases, the lessees agreed to pay a flat annual fee to lessors for the right to extract oil and gas without regard to whether any mineral was extracted or the amount extracted. In the production-based leases, the lessees agreed to pay a percentage of the… Supreme Court of Ohio Declines to Recognize Implied Covenant to Explore FurtherJanuary 9, 2018 In Alford v. Collins-McGregor Operating Co., 2018-Ohio-8, the Supreme Court of Ohio decided that Ohio does not recognize an implied covenant to explore further, separate and apart from the implied covenant of reasonable development. In Alford, the Appellants were landowners and lessors of an oil and gas lease with Appellees. The lease was held by the production of a single well drilled to the… Ohio's 7th District Court of Appeals Issues Opinions on Deed Interpretation - Adopts Duhig RuleJanuary 4, 2018 The 7th District Court of appeals was busy interpreting deeds in December. The Court issued four opinions involving the interpretation of purported mineral reservations in various conveyances in four separate decisions: Talbot v. Ward, 2017-Ohio-9213, Mcauley v. Brooker, 2017-Ohio-9222, Rubel v. Johnson, 2017-Ohio-9221, and Porterfield v. Bruner Land Company, Inc., 2017-Ohio-9045. While deed… FERC Sidesteps New York’s Denial of CWA §401 Certification Giving Go-Ahead to Millennium Pipeline Company SpurOctober 10, 2017 “For any company desiring to construct a natural gas pipeline, all roads lead to FERC.” Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. v. Seggos, 860 F.3d 696, 698 (D.C. Cir. 2017). In a significant and already controversial decision issued in mid-September, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) granted approval for Millennium Pipeline Company L.L.C. (“Millennium”)… Sierra Club Links Up with Libertarian Landowners in Continued Opposition to Gas DevelopmentSeptember 7, 2017 Opponents of natural gas development do not have the resources to challenge individual well permits in the Marcellus and related shale gas basins. Instead, they understand that the future of the industry depends on assembling the rights to draw gas from fractionated ownership and on the ability to attract higher prices by building transmission pipelines to carry the gas to new markets. So, the… Third Circuit Rejects Challenge to Corps of Engineers’ Permit for PipelineSeptember 6, 2017 On August 23, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Corps’ decision to issue a Clean Water Act § 404 “fill” permit to a pipeline developer for 13 miles of pipeline in Pennsylvania. See Delaware River Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 17-1506 (3rd Cir. Aug. 23, 2017). The Riverkeeper’s challenge was an original action filed in the 3rd Circuit pursuant to the… Virginia Supreme Court Largely Affirms Right of Pipeline to Conduct Property Surveys and Examinations without Landowner ApprovalAugust 2, 2017 The Virginia Supreme Court issued two opinions on July 13, 2017, addressing the rights of pipelines to survey property without landowner permission. In the first, Chaffins v. Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, the Court considered what constitutes adequate prior notice by a pipeline company to gain access for surveys and property evaluation in the absence of landowner approval. In the second, Palmer… California Plaintiffs Seek to Address Climate Change Via State Tort SuitsAugust 2, 2017 On July 17, 2017, the governments of California’s Marin and San Meteo counties, as well as the city of Imperial Beach, filed three separate complaints in California Superior Court in their respective counties against 37 oil, gas, and coal companies. We have previously written about similar suits filed by citizen groups, states, and cities in federal court here. Although most of these suits… Ohio Supreme Court to Hear Appeal on Expansion of Implied CovenantsApril 24, 2017 Ohio Supreme Court to hear case seeking to expand the implied covenant to reasonably develop to include the obligation to explore deeper formations in Alford v. Collins-McGregor Operating Company, Washington App. No. 16CA9, 2016-Ohio-5082. In this case, the plaintiff landowners sought a declaration of partial forfeiture of their leases, as to all depths below the Gordon Sand Formation, on the… Monkey Wrenches on the Way: Anti-Pipeline Group from the Midwest Wants in on the Appalachian ActionJanuary 30, 2017 According to a recent publication by Inside Climate News, a group claiming to have played a pivotal role in the efforts to block the Keystone XL Pipeline, is here to help wage war against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. A group known as Bold Alliance bills itself as a network of “small and mighty” groups in rural states (Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana and Oklahoma), which… |
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