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

Mealey's Fracking

January 25, 2024
Ohio Court Reverses Injection Well Ruling, Says Takings Claim Is ‘Cognizable’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court on Jan. 24 reversed and remanded a lower court and held that a company that disposes of hydraulic fracturing wastewater had stated a legal cognizable interest for a partial taking of its property by a state agency that ordered it to suspend operations at its injection well after it was determined that activity at the well had resulted in earthquakes.
January 24, 2024
In Mineral Rights Case, Judge Nixes Declaratory Judgment Claim As Duplicative

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has ruled in a mineral rights dispute that the plaintiffs’ claims for breach of contract and declaratory judgment are duplicative because they arise from the same allegations pursuant to the mineral leases at issue. As a result, the judge dismissed the claim for declaratory judgment.
January 24, 2024
Defendant Cites Rule Of Capture In 3-Page Answer To Long-Running Fracking Case

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a short answer in Pennsylvania federal court in a long-running and complex dispute, denying a trespass claim brought by plaintiffs who contend that they continue to be victims of intrusive conduct that results in natural gas being extracted from their land. The fracking company argues that the claims are precluded by the Rule of Capture.
January 22, 2024
High Court Refuses To Consider If Damage Caused By Insured’s Work Is Occurrence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari on Jan. 22, refusing to consider whether the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rewrote Pennsylvania insurance law in its application of the faulty workmanship doctrine when it found that damages to natural gas wells caused by an insured’s fracking work does not constitute an occurrence under a commercial general liability policy.
January 18, 2024
Alaska Authority: Agency’s Use Of Lease Terms Still Amounts To Violation Of Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A state authority that supports hydraulic fracturing in Alaska filed an amended complaint in the federal fracking lease dispute before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, adding a claim for violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) based on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) use of the word “license” rather than “lease.” The authority says the DOI’s interpretation of the words is “strained and unsupported” and still amounts to a violation of the APA.
January 17, 2024
High Court Told ‘Chaos’ Will Ensue ‘In A World Without Chevron’ Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court was told Jan. 17 that “chaos” will ensue “in a world without Chevron” deference by government attorneys, who urged it to apply stare decisis and uphold Chevron, which is being challenged in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations.
January 12, 2024
Wyoming Wants To Strike Extra-Record Materials In Federal Fracking Lease Case

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The state of Wyoming has filed a reply brief in Wyoming federal court arguing that it should strike and/or exclude extra-record submissions made by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) in the ongoing battle over the agency’s failure to conduct mineral lease sales for hydraulic fracturing in the third and fourth quarters of 2022. The state says the DOI incorrectly argues that no record exists to review the pause of lease sales.
January 11, 2024
Fracking Proponents Say Federal Lease Case Belongs In Washington, D.C., Not Alaska

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Proponents of hydraulic fracturing in Alaska have filed a brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia federal court contending that their case against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other federal agencies related to allegations that they violated federal law when they terminated fracking leases should not be transferred to Alaska because the DOI made the decision under review in the District of Columbia, not Alaska.
January 11, 2024
Panel Partially Reverses, Says Issue Of Fact Exists Over Unpaid Fracking Royalties

SHREVEPORT, La. — A Louisiana appeals court panel has partially affirmed and partially reversed a ruling in a complex mineral rights dispute, ruling that there was a genuine issue of material fact on a landowner’s claims for unpaid royalties from a gas production company because the company had a continuing economic connection to a gas gathering system that charged costs that did not enhance or increase the market value of the gas.
January 11, 2024
Responding To Earthquakes, Texas Agency Suspends 23 Fracking Disposal Well Permits

AUSTIN, Texas — In response to seven earthquakes that occurred in two Texas counties over a five-week period in late 2023, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) has suspended permits for 23 deep disposal wells used to store hydraulic fracturing wastewater.
January 11, 2024
Panel: Royalties Should Be Allocated Proportionately To Mineral Interest Owners

EL PASO, Texas — A Texas appellate panel has reversed and remanded a trial court’s decision, ruling that the burden of the state’s nonparticipating royalty interest (NPRI) in hydraulic fracturing operations is to be allocated proportionately to all mineral interest owners in accordance with their respective interests.
January 10, 2024
Groups Tell 10th Circuit National Monuments Decision Should Stand

DENVER — Environmental advocates and Native American groups filed response briefs in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 9 in the litigation over President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s decision to reinstate the original dimensions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments under the Antiquities Act. The environmental groups contend that the court should affirm the trial court’s holding that Biden had the authority to make the decision, and the Native American groups say the parties challenging it lack standing.
January 10, 2024
Judge Says Stockholders Failed To State A Claim Against Fracking Company

HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a securities lawsuit brought by shareholders against a hydraulic fracturing operator, finding that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim or satisfy the federal rules of procedure in connection with their claims that the directors and officers of the company knowingly made false statements about their activities.
January 10, 2024
Panel Sends Oilfield Accident Case Back To Trial Court For Ruling On Timeliness

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana state appeals court has remanded to a trial court an oilfield accident lawsuit as the defendant, who lost a total of $3,755,956.23 in damages, seeks a hearing on the issue of whether the plaintiff failed to file the lawsuit in a timely manner.
January 09, 2024
Judge Allows Amended Fracking Securities Complaint, Denies Bid To File Under Seal

HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Jan. 8 issued two rulings in a shareholder lawsuit against a hydraulic fracturing operator and three of its senior executives, granting the plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint but denying their request to file it under seal. The judge ruled that the shareholders can add claims for misrepresentation but that they failed to explain why the public’s right to access is outweighed by the parties’ interest in sealing the amended complaint.
January 08, 2024
Judge: Landowners’ Continuing Trespass Case Against Fracking Operator Is Valid

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has denied a hydraulic fracturing company’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit against it, ruling that the plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged a continuing trespass and have shown that they continue to be alleged victims of intrusive conduct that results in natural gas being extracted from their land.
January 05, 2024
Oil Company Asks 10th Circuit To Review Ruling Terminating Royalty Dispute

DENVER — An oil and gas company on Jan. 4 filed a notice of appeal in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging an order and final judgment that terminated a long-running hydraulic fracturing royalty dispute. A panel of the 10th Circuit had previously affirmed a separate lower court ruling that denied remand in the same case as recently as Sept. 19 due to the amount in controversy, which the panel said was “roughly $35.4 million.”
January 04, 2024
Energy Company Says Oil, Gas Were Reserved, Seeks Reversal Of Lower Court’s Ruling

CINCINNATI — Long Point Energy LLC, which is embroiled in a complex mineral rights dispute with Gulfport Energy Corp., has filed a reply brief in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that it should reverse part of a lower court’s judgment that held that the oil and gas beneath the surface of a 165-acre tract was never reserved and asking the court to render judgment on that issue in its favor.
December 21, 2023
Judge: Oil Company’s Due Process Claim Against County Fails In Drilling Permit Row

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California has ruled that a decision by municipal authorities that nullified an oil company’s zoning clearance to conduct drilling operations stands because the company failed “to provide any admissible evidence to overcome the presumption of honesty and integrity of the adjudicatory process.” The clearance was nullified, partly, after a federal agency discovered that drilling activities had contaminated local aquifers.
December 21, 2023
Panel: Mineral Rights Company’s Fracking Royalty Interest Appeal Has ‘No Merit’

WOODSFIELD, Ohio — An Ohio appellate panel has affirmed a trial court’s ruling that an assignment of royalties from 1898 related to mineral rights interests conveyed a fixed, fractional 1/16 royalty interest to a mineral rights holding company’s predecessors-in-interest, therefore, the company’s claim that it had an interest in 1/2 of the lease royalty had “no merit.”
December 21, 2023
Federal Agencies Say Utah, Counties Lack Standing In National Monuments Case

DENVER — Federal agencies have filed a brief in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the state of Utah and two counties that oppose President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s decision to reinstate the original dimensions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments have not established standing to challenge his decision under the Antiquities Act.
December 20, 2023
Agencies Seek Transfer Of Fracking Lease Dispute To Alaska Federal Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on Dec. 19 moved in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to transfer a case brought against it and other federal agencies by proponents of hydraulic fracturing in Alaska to federal court there, arguing that related cases are currently pending in that jurisdiction and that those cases, as well as the case at hand, involve local interests and issues that should be heard and decided in Alaska.
December 20, 2023
Magistrate: Fracking Operators Must Produce Documents In Royalty Dispute

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal magistrate judge in Ohio has granted leaseholders’ motion to compel hydraulic fracturing companies to produce documents in a long-running royalty dispute, ruling that the leaseholders’ requests were “technically timely” and that the information sought is “relevant to damages” and is not unduly burdensome for the fracking companies to produce.
December 20, 2023
Environmental Groups Appeal Dismissal Of Federal Fracking Permit Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Environmental advocacy groups on Dec. 19 filed a notice of appeal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia indicating that they will be challenging its ruling that dismissed their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) over federal permits for hydraulic fracturing.
December 19, 2023
Company Says Fraud Claims In Fracking Assets Case Are Valid Under Tolling Rules

PHILADELPHIA — An energy company has filed a reply brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that “the dispositive facts and the case law demonstrate beyond cavil” that its claims in a fraud lawsuit related to the purchase of oil and gas assets in the Marcellus Shale formation are preserved under the tolling and discovery rules and a trial on the merits is necessary.