Energy Law Round Up

A jury verdict out of Oklahoma may be a harbinger of what's on the horizon for the many battles being waged in courthouses across the country between operators of horizontal wells and the vertical drillers who say their wells have been damaged—or destroyed—by hydraulic fracturing. Also, the Fifth Circuit puts the kibosh on a pipeline regulator's attempts to implement a strict liability regime when Congress never authorized one.

In this week's episode, find out about new guidance for calculating royalties on federal oil and gas leases, the BLM's termination of restrictive Obama-era fracking rules, and a cautionary tale for operators who might mistakenly assume that they have a security interest in the oil they sell to downstream purchasers.

We're back from a brief hiatus for the Independence Day holiday with a quick look at the legal developments in oil-and-gas law that July has brought us so far.

In this week's episode, you'll learn about multiple decisions that came out of the Texas Supreme Court on Friday, which can directly impact your operations in the oil patch, as well as one of the first jury verdicts addressing the increasing trend of mineral lessors challenging the deduction from their royalties of affiliate fees for post-production transportation and processing.

Your non-solicitation agreement with your employees in the oil patch may have just been gutted by a new decision from a Texas court of appeals. Join guest host and employment lawyer Andrea Johnson as she interviews Bruce Morris—one of the nation's leading authorities on trade secrets—about the shifting state of the law and ways you can ensure that your company is protected.

The Eighth Circuit makes it easier for plaintiffs to take fracing contamination claims to trial; the Texas Supreme Court rules on the validity of county-wide mineral conveyances; and the Oklahoma Supreme Court is asked to clarify the often vexing "marketable product" rule for post-production expense deductions.

The Texas Supreme Court issues new guidance for noise-and-pollution claims in the oil patch, as well as a landmark opinion on subsurface mineral trespass; Colorado energy regulators ask their state's high court to clarify their responsibilities; another federal court strikes down an oil-and-gas class action for lack of common facts; and the Texas Railroad Commission survives Sunset review without a scratch.

In this week's episode, Tom gets you up to speed on fracing rules for federal and tribal lands and dials you into several new developments out of the Texas Supreme Court—including a little-known pitfall that could get your well damage case dismissed with prejudice.

Tom discusses the intersection of the oil patch with class actions and the Fair Labor Standards Act; the federal government's liability for the environmental cleanup of refinery waste; and a shortsighted discovery ruling that could leave the Dakota Access pipeline vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Lots to discuss this week, from the nation's first legislative fracking ban; to a lower bar for class certification in royalty underpayment actions; to multiple decisions out of the Texas Supreme Court that could spawn a wave of widespread mineral title disputes.