Mealey's Fracking : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Fracking

November 03, 2022
Company Insists It Has No Duty Regarding Abandoned West Virginia Fracking Wells

WHEELING, W.Va. — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a reply brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that it should dismiss a putative class action by landowners who sued over abandoned wells, contending that the lawsuit fails because the company has established as a matter of law that it has not violated the well plugging duty codified in West Virginia law.
November 03, 2022
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Fracking Royalty Interest Case Based On Lease Language

ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio — An appellate panel in Ohio has affirmed a trial court decision that found that overriding royalty interest holders were not entitled to payment of those interests for oil and gas extraction based on the language of the hydraulic fracturing leases they hold with fracking operators.
November 03, 2022
Oil Company Intervenors Seek Dismissal Of Federal Fracking Permit Approval Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oil and gas companies that are intervenor defendants in a hydraulic fracturing lawsuit brought by environmental groups against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) have moved in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbiaarguing that it should dismiss the case because the plaintiffs’ challenges to the DOI’s decisions approving fracking permits are barred by limitations on judicial review of administrative action.
November 02, 2022
Briefly: Another Group Challenges FERC Approval Of Fracking Pipeline

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of natural gas providers has petitioned the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appealsseeking review of an order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that approved construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline that would carry fracked gas to Louisiana.
November 01, 2022
Properly, Timely Pleaded Securities Claims Wrongly Dismissed, Investors Argue

DENVER — A federal district court erred in dismissing federal securities law claims brought by investors against the members of an oil, gas and mineral exploration joint venture as time-barred under the statute of limitations because not only did the investors sufficiently plead the necessary elements of the claims, they also showed they were not put on inquiry notice of the alleged fraud until August 2020, the investors say in an appellant brief filed in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
November 01, 2022
Groups, Federal Agency Agree To Dismiss Fracking Lease Dispute With Prejudice

DENVER — An environmental group and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) mutually decided to dismiss with prejudice a lawsuit initially brought as a challenge to a development plan that would allow hydraulic fracturing in the Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forests within the Paonia Ranger District. The stipulation, entered in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, did not elaborate on the reasons for the agreement.
November 01, 2022
2nd Circuit Rules Fraud Case Against Fracking Operator Fails To State Claim

NEW YORK — A panel of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling that dismissed a shareholder lawsuit against a hydraulic fracturing company, ruling that the complaint fails to state a claim for the alleged violation of federal securities laws.
October 25, 2022
Groups’ Amicus Brief Calls For California High Court To Uphold Local Fracking Ban

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Environmental groups have filed an amicus curiae brief in the California Supreme Court contending that a lower court decision that struck down a local ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing “threatens to interfere with municipalities’ efforts to address the localized impacts of oil and gas drilling in ways that are responsive to concerns of their most vulnerable residents.”
October 25, 2022
Board Institutes Review Of Patented Reciprocating Pump Assembly

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In an Oct. 24 holding, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board deemed a petitioner likely to prevail with respect to at least one challenged claim in a patent that claims a power end housing for a reciprocating pump assembly used in oil and gas extraction,
October 24, 2022
Investor: Directors Violated Securities Laws Connected To Fracking Company IPO

DALLAS — A stockholder sued a hydraulic fracturing operator, contending that the company and its board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by filing materially false information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the company’s initial public offering (IPO).
October 20, 2022
Trade Groups’ Amicus Brief Says Local Fracking Ban Violates California Policy

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two energy trade groups on Oct. 19 filed a joint amicus curiae brief in the California Supreme Court supporting Chevron USA Inc.’s appeal of a local ordinance that bans hydraulic fracturing operations, arguing that the policy of the state is for its officials to be “in complete charge of determining how oil and gas production will take place.”
October 19, 2022
Investor Says Fracking Company Breached Securities Laws In Connection With Merger

NEW YORK — An investor has sued a hydraulic fracturing well services company in New York federal court alleging violations of federal securities laws in connection with a decision made by directors of the company to merge with a fracking holding company because the proxy statement that recommended that stockholders approve the transaction contained materially incomplete and misleading information.
October 19, 2022
Leaseholders Appeal $71.61M Fracking Award For Exxon To Texas Supreme Court

AUSTIN, Texas — Hydraulic fracturing leaseholders have appealed a $71.61 million jury verdict to the Texas Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court’s decision to reinstate the award to Exxon Mobil Corp. ignores Texas law.
October 18, 2022
‘Significant Protectable Interests’ Justify Fracking Case Intervention, Group Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A hydraulic fracturing industry trade group argues in District of Columbia federal court that it should be permitted to intervene in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)’s approval of the sale of 173 oil and gas lease parcels for fracking on 144,000 acres of public lands across eight western states, contending that the trade group and its members hold “significant protectable interests” in the leases at issue.
October 17, 2022
Conservative Think Tank Urges Supreme Court To Hear Fracking Pipeline Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The public interest law arm of a conservative think tank on Oct. 14 filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should grant review of a petition filed by landowners who opposed a hydraulic fracturing pipeline because the decision in the court below is “plainly wrong and conflicts with the decisions of” the Supreme Court and other federal appellate courts.
October 10, 2022
Tribes, Groups Handed Defeat In Suit Over Pipeline Replacement In Minn., N.D.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Native American tribes and environmental groups lost their challenge to the replacement of a 282-mile section of crude oil pipeline in Minnesota and North Dakota when a District of Columbia federal judge on Oct. 7 granted the pipeline company and federal defendants summary judgment on environmental impact claims, finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “complied with its obligations to assess the environmental consequences associated with its permits” for the project.
October 07, 2022
Judge: Issues Remain In Fracking Contract Dispute, Judgment On Pleadings Denied

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has denied judgment on the pleadings in a dispute between hydraulic fracturing operators over pooling and royalty payments, ruling that questions of fact remain on the production capabilities of the drilling units under which Sabre Energy Corp. argues that Gulfport Energy Corp. is producing gas and oil.
October 07, 2022
Judge Nixes Fracking Case, Says Leaseholders Fail To Show Royalty Payment Error

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has dismissed a royalty dispute involving hydraulic fracturing leases, ruling that the leaseholders failed to present evidence showing that they received less than the amount of proceeds established in the lease in question.
October 07, 2022
Briefly: Groups Challenge FERC Certificate Approving Fracking Pipeline Project

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Sierra Club and another environmental advocacy group have filed a petition in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking review of an order issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that approved a certificate to build a portion of a pipeline to carry hydraulically fractured gas to Louisiana.
October 07, 2022
Petitioner Tells Board ‘Nearly Identical’ European Patent Already Invalidated

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A patent relating to explosive charges used during oil and gas extraction was wrongly issued in January 2022, as evidenced by the recent rejection by the European Patent Office (EPO) of a “nearly identical . . . counterpart” patent, a petitioner for post-grant review told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
October 07, 2022
Study: Methane Flaring Lacks Efficiency, Is At Times Completely Ineffective

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently published a study that concluded that flaring at oil and gas wells, which is intended to combust methane to minimize emissions, is “not as efficient as presumed” and is sometimes completely ineffective.
October 06, 2022
Briefly: Panel Denies Fracking Company’s Bid To Intervene In Pipeline Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a hydraulic fracturing company may not intervene in the review of an order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) related to a pipeline dispute because it has failed to show standing and has not established “a sufficient stake in the dispute.”
October 06, 2022
Oil Company Says ‘Cross-Unit’ Fracking Is Protected By Pennsylvania Law

HARRISBURG, Pa. — An oil and gas company has filed a reply brief on its cross-motion for summary judgment in Pennsylvania federal court arguing that state law provides a fair process for allocating production in “cross-unit” oil and gas wells and eliminates regulatory barriers that preclude cross-unit wells; therefore, the court should issue a declaratory judgment confirming the company’s right to drill horizontally traversing property owned by a family farm.
October 06, 2022
Exxon Seeks Correction Of $71.61M Judgment It Won To Put A Finer Point On Award

HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil Corp. has filed a reply brief in Texas state appellate court arguing that a judgment handed down in September, in which Exxon won a $71.61 million jury award, should be corrected to modify one sentence in the ruling to indicate that the award the appellate court handed down is what the trial court should have awarded in the first instance.
October 06, 2022
Fracking Company Says Lease Dispute Fails As Plaintiffs Fail To Show Injury

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a reply brief in Montana federal court contending that it should dismiss a lease dispute brought by environmental groups because the district court does not have jurisdiction to cancel valid existing leases and the plaintiffs cannot show injury from those leases.