Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law Commons^™

Utah, Mark Burghardt

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

Oil and gas production continues to be an important sector of Utah’s economy. Following a 25% loss in production between 2014 and 2015, Utah’s production continues to slowly rebound. Crude oil production in 2019 appears to be slightly ahead of 2018 production. Monthly production averages slightly over three million barrels, placing Utah among the top ten states in crude oil production. Along with the continuing increase in production, the state’s legal framework governing oil and gas continues to develop.

This Article examines recent changes in Utah statutes and regulations along with new case law developments involving the oil and gas …

The Fight For Footprint: Energy Development And Competing Surface Use Issues, James D. Bradbury

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

The laws surrounding energy development in Texas have evolved over the past century, as Texas has been at the epicenter of the energy industry—and thereby, the center of energy law—since oil was discovered in Corsicana in 1894. Domestic, and even some international choice-of-law clauses, choose Texas law due to the Lone Star State’s dominance in the energy sector.

While Texas is often closely tied to oil and gas, its strong position in the energy market is not limited just to this industry. Texas is now the largest producer of wind energy and the seventh largest producer of solar energy in …

Wyoming, Walter F. Eggers, Iii

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

Wyoming currently ranks eighth nationally in both crude oil and natural gas production. In 2018, Wyoming produced 87.9 million barrels of crude oil, up from 75.7 million barrels in 2017. Wyoming produced 1.81 billion MCF (thousand cubic feet) of natural gas, increasing from 1.80 billion MCF produced in 2017.

A Comparative Analysis Of Texas And New Mexico Oil And Gas Laws From A Title Examiner's Perspective, Carly Hewett

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

The statutory framework surrounding oil and gas law and the related title issues in Texas and New Mexico, while similar in many instances, do have some notable differences. New Mexico case law is very limited, which could be due to a variety of reasons, including a smaller state population and the fact that New Mexico and the United States own much of New Mexico’s oil and gas productive acreage. Therefore, practitioners often look to other jurisdictions, including Texas, for guidance. Texas’s secondary authority is also better developed with its own adopted title standards. New Mexico does not have such guidance. …

Experience Is A Dear Teacher--The Texas Wind Decommissioning Statute, Rod Wetsel

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

As is well known among both my students and colleagues, my professional life as a lawyer (and later as a law professor) took a monumental turn in 1999 when I reviewed and drafted my first wind lease in Nolan County, Texas. That lease, as well as all of the other wind leases at the time, contained contractional “clean up and restoration” clauses similar to many oil and gas leases then in use. Simply put, the leases provided that upon expiration or termination of the lease (which for a wind lease, unlike an oil and gas lease, might be fifty or …

Virginia, Mason Heidt

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article addresses developments in Virginia oil and gas law for the period from July 31, 2014 to July 31, 2019. This period is longer than normally addressed by this journal to capture important developments in the law between this update and the last Virginia update published in 2015. At the state level, in Swords Creek Land Partnership v. Belcher, the Supreme Court of Virginia concluded coalbed methane (“CBM”) is a separate and distinct mineral estate from coal. It held that the meaning of “coal” within an 1887 severance deed was unambiguous and did not intend to convey ownership rights …

Oil & Gas Survey: West Virginia, Josh Fershee

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article summarizes and discusses important recent developments in West Virginia’s oil and gas law as determined by recent West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals cases. There were no substantial legislative changes in the current period.

Come And Charge It: The Rise Of Utility-Scale Battery Energy Storage In Texas, Matthew A. Arth

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

Affordable, reliable battery energy storage has long been the holy grail of the electric grid. From avoiding expensive transmission build-out to smoothing out fluctuations inherent to wind and solar resource output, batteries hold the promise of providing the solution to an ever more intermittent and distributed grid. Across the United States and particularly in Texas, that futuristic vision is beginning to approach reality as battery costs decline and favorable regulatory policy is implemented. This Article addresses the current state of battery energy storage system development and notes recent contributory policy developments at both the national and state level.

New Challenges To Transboundary Unitization In The Gulf Of Mexico, Isaac Olson

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

In the last two decades, the search for untapped oil reserves led to many innovations in oil and gas exploration. As new technology continues to open new horizons, oil companies are increasingly able to drill at deeper ocean depths to tap offshore reserves. Offshore drilling poses problems where oil reserves hundreds of miles from shore cross an international boundary line. While American courts typically apply the rule of capture to determine who owns the subsoil resources, international law requires countries to work together to maximize the efficient, safe extraction of the resources. In 2012, the United States and Mexico drafted …

Regulate Or Be Regulated: Why Professional Landmen Should Be Proactive In Protecting The Integrity Of Their Occupation, Brian J. Steinocher

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

In most states, the landman profession is unregulated and free to define itself. Work performed by landmen often flirts with the practice of law, but under Texas law much of the work that landmen perform is excepted from the unlicensed practice of law. Historically, the American Association of Professional Landmen (“AAPL”) has been influential in guaranteeing that this exception stays available to landmen all over the United States and that landmen are not subject to licensing requirements in the states they work in. In light of the recent, unsuccessful attempt by the Texas legislature to regulate landmen, this Article will …