Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law Commons^™

Water Ethics: A Values Approach To Solving The Water Crisis By David Groenfelt, Robin James

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Transportation: Opportunities In The Northeast And Mid-Atlantic, Gabriel Pacyniak

Faculty Scholarship

The report finds that clean transportation policies could cut greenhouse gas emissions between 29 to 40 percent in the TCI region by 2030. A comprehensive implementation of state policies could result in net cost savings of up to $72.5 billion over 15 years for businesses and consumers, along with tens of thousands of new jobs and improvements in public health.

Symposium: Remedies For Big Disasters: The Bp Gulf Oil Spill And The Quest For Complete Justice, Introduction, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Review

This symposium, sponsored by the Remedies Section of the Association of American Law Schools, asks the question of what “complete justice” looks like for remedies and compensation for big disasters like the BP oil spill. The contributors address whether the GCCF fund provides complete justice, and whether it should serve as a precedent for future alternative systems. Their surprising answer on both accounts is no.

Unconventional Responses To Unique Catastrophes, Kenneth R. Feinberg

Akron Law Review

Mass disasters sometimes require creative remedies. The tort system may not provide the best means of compensation in unusual situations like the Agent Orange chemical exposure litigation, the Virginia Tech shootings,the attacks of September 11th (“9/11”), and the BP oil spill. Executive compensation after the financial meltdown may also require new, innovative approaches. From my work mediating and administering these cases over the last twenty-five years, I have concluded that such alternative compensation systems are—and should be—rare.

Appeal No. 0859: City Of Wooster, V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Chief's Order 2014-09 (Enviro Clean Facility)

Proposed Indicators To Measure The Environmental Responsibiity Of Oil And Gas Companies And Regulatory Reforms To Improve Access To Information About Offshore Drilling, Wendy B. Jacobs, Aladdine D. Joroff

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This paper suggests a set of indicators to evaluate and predict the environmental performance of companies proposing to drill for oil or gas in the U.S. Arctic and recommends mechanisms for improving public access to, and intra- and inter-agency sharing of, information from companies engaged in offshore drilling. We use the term “performance indicator” to refer to an observable metric that correlates with an aspect of an operator’s performance that is either too difficult to measure directly, or too broad to be reduced to a single, precisely quantifiable metric. Performance indicators can be used to compare an operator’s performance in …

Proposed Indicators To Measure The Environmental Responsibiity Of Oil And Gas Companies And Regulatory Reforms To Improve Access To Information About Offshore Drilling, Wendy B. Jacobs, Aladdine D. Joroff

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This paper suggests a set of indicators to evaluate and predict the environmental performance of companies proposing to drill for oil or gas in the U.S. Arctic and recommends mechanisms for improving public access to, and intra- and inter-agency sharing of, information from companies engaged in offshore drilling. We use the term “performance indicator” to refer to an observable metric that correlates with an aspect of an operator’s performance that is either too difficult to measure directly, or too broad to be reduced to a single, precisely quantifiable metric. Performance indicators can be used to compare an operator’s performance in …

Natural Resource Contracts As A Tool For Managing The Mining Sector, David Kienzler, Perrine Toledano, Sophie Thomashausen, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In this report commissioned by the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), CCSI examined the different types of legal regimes governing mining projects in 18 countries to gain a better understanding of mining deals granted and negotiated under different minerals regimes. CCSI compared the provisions of 30 mining contracts from 13 countries, analyzed a selection of mining-related legislative texts from 18 countries, and surveyed the experiences of mining contract negotiations through dozens of interviews with experts, government officials, company representatives, and members of civil society organizations.

The report …

Cooperative Mineral Interest Development In The Lone Star State: It's Time To Mess With Texas, Matthew K. Trawick

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Since the early discoveries of the Spindletop, King Ranch, and East Texas oil fields, the oil and gas industry has dominated the Texas economy. The industry has also played an important role in shaping state politics and culture. The oil boom of the early 1900s created thousands of jobs for ordinary workers and immense wealth for a select few. Early Texas oil barons made headlines because of their lavish lifestyles and often extreme political beliefs. Legendary wildcatter H.L. Hunt typified this oil-fueled exuberance. Hunt became one of the eight richest individuals in the United States after securing mineral rights to …

Recent Case Decisions, Jordan D. Volino, John C. Curtis Iii, Jarrod H. Gamble, Patrick J. Hoog, Taylor C. Venus, Daniel Franklin

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Oil And Gas Title Examination: The Basics, David D. Hunt Ii

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Marketable Product: What Did Kuntz Say? What Did Merrill Say?, Owen L. Anderson

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Old Faves And New Raves: How Case Law Has Affected Form Joint Operating Agreements—Problems And Solutions (Part One), Christopher S. Kulander

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Daniel Franklin

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Fracking And The Rural Poor: Negative Externalities, Failing Remedies, And Federal Legislation, Matthew Castelli

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

This Note examines the relationship between the rural poor and the negative externalities of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). It asserts that the rural poor are disproportionately burdened with fracking’s negative externalities and that comprehensive, national regulation is needed because current legal methods are insufficient to internalize these costs. The argument is made in four parts: describing fracking’s externalities; assessing their impact on the rural poor; analyzing current legal regimes; and proposing an equitable regulatory framework based on cooperative federalism.

Fracking produces three main categories of negative externalities: water, air, and land contamination. Water contamination can be caused by migration of fracking …

Resource Resilience: How To Break The Commodities Cycle, Lisa E. Sachs, Nicolas Maennling

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The past year has seen dramatic declines in the prices of global commodities. Between June 2014 and the beginning of this year, crude oil prices fell by 50 percent to around $50 a barrel. Similarly, mineral prices have seen a drastic fall since the peak of the “commodity supercycle” in early 2011. Between then and April of this year, iron ore prices fell by 70 percent, coal prices by 54 percent and copper prices by 40 percent.

The Intersection Of Louisiana Succession Law And Mineral Code Article 190: Quantum Resources V. Pirate Lake Oil, Alexander Baynham

Louisiana Law Review

The article offers information on the e intersection of the succession law of Louisiana and the article 190 of the Louisiana Mineral Code as applied to the judicial decision of Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in Quantum Resources v. Pirate Lake Oil case. Topics discussed include the concept of forced heirship, the usufructs of surviving spouse including mineral rights, and difference between testate or intestate succession.

The Superagency Solution, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

In many parts of the country, hydraulic fracturing has brought energy development onto people’s doorsteps. Efforts by local governments to employ traditional land use mechanisms to study and mitigate some of the impacts of these latest intrusions have erupted into battles over the scope of statewide agencies’ control. Forgotten in this fray are many renewable energy resources. As a general rule, they are not subject to statewide oversight, and consequently renewable energy providers must navigate the myriad of siting and permitting requirements of local jurisdictions. For several years, scholars have urged more statewide renewable energy siting procedures to level the …

Appeal No. 0894: Ll&B Headwater Ii, Lp, V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management And Gulfport Energy Corporation, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2014-471 (Gulfport Energy Corporation; Brown #9 Unit)

Shell Gulf Of Mexico, Inc. V. Center For Biological Diversity, Nick Vandenbos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In an attempt to stave off what it saw as impending litigation, Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. filed suit under the Declaratory Judgment Act against a range of environmental groups opposed to Shell’s oil exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas of Alaska’s Arctic Coast. Shell requested a declaratory judgment that its oil spill response plans, as approved by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, did not violate the Administrative Procedures Act. Although noting the novelty of Shell’s argument, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded the district court had erred in determining a justiciable …

Getches-Wilkinson Center Newsletter, Spring 2015, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment Newsletter (2013-)

No abstract provided.

Expanding The Renewable Energy Industry Through Tax Subsidies Using The Structure And Rationale Of Traditional Energy Tax Subsidies, Blake Harrison

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Just as the government invested in oil and gas, it must now invest in new energy sources. In a sense, Americans need history to repeat itself. This Note suggests that Congress should amend the United States Tax Code to further subsidize the renewable energy industry. Congress should use subsidies historically available to the oil and gas industries as a model in its amendments. These subsidies serve as a model for promoting the renewable energy industry because such subsidies were fundamental in facilitating the oil and gas industries’ dominance today. Ultimately, Congress must further subsidize the renewable energy industry to avoid …

Interim Payments And Economic Damages To Compensate Private-Party Victims Of Hazardous Releases, Julie E. Steiner

Marquette Law Review

There is a gap in tort recovery for many hazardous release victims. Hazardous spill victims receive different damage compensation based solely upon the type of hazardous substance released, with oil spill victims benefitting from a number of statutory damage recovery mechanisms that victims of other type of hazardous substance releases do not receive. Specifically, those injured by oil spills receive interim payments and recover for their economic loss. Yet, many victims injured by non-oil hazardous spills will incur economic harm but will not receive compensation because of a prohibition on recovery for economic loss absent accompanying physical injury or private …

Appeal No. 0870: Big Sky Energy, Inc., V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Chief's Order 2014-132 (WMH Lobb#1 Well)

Blue Skies For Black Lung Benefits Act Survivors? Courts' Interpretations Of § 932(L) Following The Enactment Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, Maureen Hughes

Catholic University Law Review

This Note summarizes the amendments made to the Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) following its passage in 1969 through the enactment of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Note also addresses the split among the circuits over the meaning of the revised language in 30 U.S.C. § 932(l) (2012), and explains the reasoning of the Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits regarding the effect of the PPACA on BLBA benefit eligibility for miners’ dependent survivors. Further, this Note explains the significance of, and necessity in, resolving the confusion over § 932(l), and …

Symposium - The 9 Billion People Question: The Challenge Of Global Resource Scarcity

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Food As A Key Resource For Security And Stability: Implications Of Changes In The Global Food System 1950-2000, Bryan L. Mcdonald

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Food security remains an urgent problem affecting the national security and interests of states, as well as the human security of people and communities around the world. This article examines the changing landscape of food security threats and vulnerabilities by examining three sets of concerns that are converging to amplify, disrupt, and transform food relations: nutrition, food safety, and global environmental change. Ensuring food security will require utilization of a range of capabilities from the state, private, and non-state sectors to confront world food problems and build a sustainable and resilient world food network.

Land Is Not The New Oil: What The Nigerian Oil Experience Can Teach South Sudan About Balancing The Risks And Benefits Of Large Scale Land Acquisition, Scott P. Stedjan

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Recent global food price volatility combined with the growing use of agricultural land to produce biofuels has sparked a global scramble for land, with Sub-Saharan African countries serving as the main targets for investors. Derided as “land-grabbing” by those opposed to the practice, the phenomenon of large-scale acquisition of farmland by governments and private investors sparked a global debate since the global food crisis of 2008. Although international investment in agriculture plays a vital role in development and poverty reduction, large scale international investment poses some serious risks to both communities and international investors. Because there are no signs of …

Not In My Backyard: Unconventional Gas Development And Local Land Use In Pennsylvania And Alberta, Canada, Nathaniel L. Foote

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Pennsylvania has struggled with rapid expansion in the state's unconventional oil and gas sector with the development of the Marcellus Shale formation. Likewise, Alberta, Canada has experienced similar growth. Yet Pennsylvania and Alberta's approaches to local land use and resource extraction differ considerably. This paper discusses each region's experience with oil and gas development, and contrasts their approaches to land use regulation in this context. The paper concludes that the Canadians' approach holds important lessons for Pennsylvania.

Foreword, Scott P. Stedjan

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.