Energy Law

Federal Court Upholds Mandatory Deep Water Royalty Relief

By Jonathan Hunter:

On October 30, 2007, the Federal District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted summary judgment in favor of Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corporation in a dispute between Kerr-McGee and the Department of the Interior over the enforceability of "price threshold" clauses that Interior inserted into deep water leases granted during the years 1996-2000. The court ruled that Interior's price threshold clauses unlawfully deprived Kerr-McGee of the statutory right to produce minimum volumes of oil and gas royalty-free, as mandated by Congress in the Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995. CLICK here to view the decision

Full post as published by The Energy Law Blog on November 01, 2007 (boomark / email).