Energy Law

Louisiana Supreme Court Holds that Act 136 of the Mineral Code is Inapplicable to Remediation Suits

Posted on October 23, 2009
By Matt Simone In Broussard v. Hilcorp Energy Co., the Louisiana Supreme Court held that a plaintiff is not required, pursuant to Article 136 of the Louisiana Mineral Code, to provide a defendant with pre-suit written notice and an opportunity to perform prior to a judicial demand for property restoration related to oil and gas production contamination...

Fifth Circuit Holds that Individual Citizens Have Standing to Sue Energy Companies for Global Warming

Posted on October 22, 2009
By April Rolen-Ogden In Comer v. Murphy Oil, the Fifth Circuit left open the possibility that the oil and gas industry may be privately sued for alleged contributions to global warming. In this putative class action lawsuit, Plaintiffs claimed that the defendants' operation of energy, fossil fuels, and chemical industries in the United States contributed to global warming...

Fifth Circuit Royalty Decision Stands -- Supreme Court Denies Cert

Posted on October 05, 2009
The United States Supreme Court has denied the Petition for Certiorari filed by the United States Department of the Interior in Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior, 554 F.3d 1082 (5th Cir. 2009). The high court's refusal to consider Interior's appeal allows the Fifth Circuit's January 2009 decision to stand...

New Permit Requirements for Hydraulic Fracturing of the Haynesville Shale

Posted on September 29, 2009
By Stephen Weigand The Shreveport Times reports that federal authorities have added additional permit requirements for companies who pump water from the Red River for hydraulic fracturing of the Haynesville Shale. The requirements were added after the U...

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Caddo Parish Commissioners Approve Ordinances Affecting Oil and Gas Operations

Posted on September 22, 2009
By Matthew Simone After seven months of discussion and postponement, Caddo Parish Commissioners approved new regulations affecting oil and gas operations. These regulations involve three directives. First, loud operations within five hundred feet of hospitals, residences, religious, commercial, or public buildings in urban areas, may only take place Monday through Saturday between 8 A...

White House Wants to End Royalty-in-Kind Program

Posted on September 17, 2009
by Elisabeth Lorio Baer Interior Secretary Ken Salazar informed Congress on September 17, 2009 that he would kill a controversial program, currently in effect, that allows energy companies to pay the government royalties for drilling on public lands in actual oil and gas in lieu of cash...

The Tiber Prospect Well: BP Makes Giant Oil Discovery Deep in the Gulf

Posted on September 04, 2009
By Kerry Murphy On Wednesday September 2, BP drilled the world's deepest oil well – the Tiber Prospect Well – and discovered a huge pool of crude oil. The Tiber well is located in the western Gulf of Mexico, southwest of New Orleans in U.S...

Local Louisiana tax assessor files 29 additional lawsuits against "big oil" companies alleging underpayment of millions in ad valorem taxes

Posted on August 21, 2009
By Emma J. Hinnigan This entry updates an earlier blog entry posted on May 4, 2009, discussing two lawsuits filed by the tax assessor for Terrebonne Parish against Burlington and LL&E for alleged underpayment of property taxes. The attorneys responsible for filing these lawsuits have held true to their promise that the lawsuits would be the first of many...

First Circuit Holds That Common Carrier Cannot Expropriate Private Property to Perform Routine Service and Maintenance on its Ethylene Pipeline

Posted on July 28, 2009
By Emma J. Hinnigan In ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 08-2347 (La. App. 1. Cir. 5/13/09), the First Circuit held that ExxonMobil was not entitled to expropriate land owned by Union Pacific because the expropriation was not for a public purpose...

Caddo Parish Commissioners Postpone Decision on Oil and Gas Ordinances

Posted on July 10, 2009
by Elisabeth Lorio Baer Despite the urging of Caddo Parish property owners to pass regulating ordinances and appeals from the oil and gas industry to leave regulation to other governing bodies, Caddo Parish commissioners decided to postpone the passage of oil and gas ordinances on Thursday...

States Challenge Attempted Federal Power Grab in Hydraulic Fracturing Issue

Posted on June 18, 2009
By Emma J. Hinnigan On June 10, 2009, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) reaffirmed its strong stance that the states remain best positioned to regulate the use of hydraulic fracturing for the production of oil and natural gas. The IOGCC's response comes on the heels of two bills introduced in the House and the Senate calling for the repeal of the exemption of hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which would effectively give the federal government jurisdiction over the regulation of the technology...

Fifth Circuit remands case regarding lessee's breach of a settlement agreement

Posted on June 11, 2009
By Jessica Gladney The Fifth Circuit recently reversed the district court's grant of partial summary judgment in Dore Energy Corp. v. Prospective Investment & Trading Co. Ltd., No. 08-30186 (5th Cir. 5/28/09). The dispute in Dore centers on the interpretation of a 2002 settlement agreement between the parties to certain mineral leases in Cameron Parish...

Fifth Circuit Reverses, Allows Texas to Intervene in Cy Pres

Posted on June 02, 2009
By Marie Carlisle On May 28, 2009, the Fifth Circuit decided In the Matter of: Lease Oil Antitrust Litigation, case no. 08-40230, reversing the District Court's denial of the State of Texas' motion to intervene in a matter concerning unclaimed settlement money from the oil antitrust action...

Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Denial of Class Certification in Alleged Chemical Expose Case

Posted on May 20, 2009
By Jessica Gladney In Thomas v. Mobil Oil Corp., No. 2008-0541 (La. App. 4 Cir. 3/31/09), the Fourth Circuit affirmed the trial court's denial of class certification against the defendants, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Chalmette Refining, L.L.C. The proposed class consisted of approximately 7,000 claimants from Algiers and St...

Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Denial of Class Certification in Alleged Chemical Exposure Case

Posted on May 20, 2009
By Jessica Gladney In Thomas v. Mobil Oil Corp., No. 2008-0541 (La. App. 4 Cir. 3/31/09), the Fourth Circuit affirmed the trial court's denial of class certification against the defendants, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Chalmette Refining, L.L.C. The proposed class consisted of approximately 7,000 claimants from Algiers and St...

Local Louisiana tax assessor files suit against oil companies alleging underpayment of millions in ad valorem property taxes

Posted on May 14, 2009
"Coastal Parishes v. Big Oil" is the name of the website addressing the lawsuit just filed in federal court against Burlington & LL&E, for property taxes on equipment that is in onshore coastal waters as well as offshore waters within the three mile territorial limit...

Louisiana Legislature Considers Bill to Allow State to Pay Attorneys Using Contingency Fee Arrangement

Posted on May 08, 2009
By Kelly Becker  The Louisiana legislature is currently considering House Bill 758 which would allow the Attorney General to pay up to a twenty-five percent contingency fee to outside attorneys to represent the State in litigation. Several industry groups, including the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and the Louisiana Oil and Association, oppose the bill on the basis that it would lead to 'frivolous' suits and target certain industries within the State...

Drilling Regulations for Haynesville Shale to be Discussed

Posted on May 04, 2009
By Jacob Credeur The Caddo Parish Commission is preparing for a public hearing on May 21 where it is set to discuss proposed drilling regulations for operators in the Haynesville Shale. The commission is working on the set of ordinances in committee discussions and is seeking to acquire public input before taking action...

D.C. Circuit Vacates Interior's Five-Year Leasing Program

Posted on April 28, 2009
By Jessica Gladney In Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Department of the Interior, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling on April 17, 2009 vacating the Department of the Interior's statutorily-mandated five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program for the period 2007-2012...

Texas Supreme Court Sends Parties to Arbitration in JOA Dispute

Posted on April 20, 2009
By Natalie Barletta The Texas Supreme Court in, In re Gulf Exploration, LLC, No. 07-0055 (Tex. Apr. 17, 2009), addresses when mandamus relief is available in connection with an order compelling arbitration. In this case, several working interest owners sued Great Western Drilling, their operator, claiming an opportunity to participate in wells drilled by Great Western...

A premises owner can still be a statutory employer in Texas, at least for now

Posted on April 06, 2009
 By Andrew Wooley: The Supreme Court of Texas issued a decision on rehearing in Entergy Gulf States, Inc. v. Summers April 3, 2009. The court's original unanimous decision in August 2007 that a Texas premises owner can be a statutory employer for workers' compensation purposes produced a great deal of political heat and a flurry of amicus briefs; so much so that the court departed from its normal practice and entertained oral argument on the motion for rehearing...

Haynesville Shale Scores Big Despite Low Gas Prices

Posted on March 31, 2009
By Jacob Credeur A recent article in the Shreveport Times indicates that payouts from the Haynesville Shale formation are leaving even the biggest players surprised. Even though Petrohawk Energy, Chesapeake, and other producers are scaling back production activity nationally because of reduced demand for natural gas, many producers are ramping up their activities in North Louisiana...

Texas Supreme Court Decides Miesch Case

Posted on March 30, 2009
By Everard Marseglia: Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Texas issued decisions in two companion cases, No. 05-1076; Exxon Corp., et al. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co., et al. ('Miesch'), and No. 05-0729; Exxon Corp., et al. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co. ('Emerald')...

Demand Falls for Offshore Leases; Economy, Policy Shifts Reflected in Bids

Posted on March 23, 2009
By Katie Cambre As reported in the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association Daily News Summary, a federal auction of drilling tracts in the central Gulf of Mexico drew far fewer bids at much lower prices than during past auctions, and analysts attributed the decline to a poor economy and new energy policies proposed by President Barack Obama...

Texas Court of Appeals Affirms Lease Termination and Rejects Summary Judgment on Adverse Possession Claim

Posted on March 16, 2009
By Marie Carlisle In Sun-Key Oil Co., Inc. v. Ernest Cannon & Moncrief Minerals P'ship, L.P., the Eleventh Court of Appeals in Eastland affirmed the District Court's judgment granting summary judgment in favor of a lessor's lease termination claim based on cessation of production and denying Sun-Key Oil Company's motion for summary judgment on its affirmative defense of adverse possession stating that Sun-Key had failed to present detailed evidence establishing its use of the property and the elements of its adverse possession claims...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Attacks Tax Breaks for Oil & Gas Companies

Posted on March 13, 2009
By Emma Hinnigan U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Secretary Timothy Geithner said when speaking to Congress on March 4, 2009...

Interior Considers Appeal of Kerr-McGee Decision

Posted on March 12, 2009
By Jason Johanson On Friday, March 6, 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stated that the agency is considering an appeal to the United States Supreme Court of the decision in Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. v. U.S. Department of the Interior, __ F...

Location Matters in Purchasing Real Property

Posted on March 02, 2009

Elections to Participate in Proposed Operations are Non-Revocable

Posted on March 02, 2009

Louisiana Third Circuit Holds Land Damages Cases Improperly Cumulated

Posted on February 20, 2009
By Jessica Gladney In Broussard v. Hilcorp Energy Corp., 08-233, 2008 WL 5158887 (La. App. 3 Cir. 12/10/08) the plainiffs owned five separate and incongruous tracts of land located in three sections in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Mineral, surface, and subsurface leases on the various properties have been granted to seven separate entities for oil and gas operations on the property...

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