The Texas Supreme Court has held that a mineral lessee enjoys surface rights over a pooled tract even if that tract is not producing oil or gas. Key Operating & Equip., Inc. v. Hegar, No. 01-10-00350-CV, 2014 WL 2789933 (Tex. Jun. 20, 2014). Mineral lessee Key pooled part of a 191-acre tract (the Curbo tract) with an adjoining tract (the Richardson tract) to form a single unit. Key used a road across the Curbo tract to reach oil and gas operations on the Richardson tract ...
A divided Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) when it required certain sources emitting greenhouse gases (GHG) to obtain permits under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Operating Permits (Title V) programs. The decision in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA (No. 12-1146) on Monday, June 23, reversed the decision of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal that upheld EPA’s rules ...
In French v. Occidental Permian, Ltd., No. 12-1002 (Tex. June 27, 2014), the Texas Supreme Court provided guidance on how to calculate royalties where production is obtained through an enhanced recovery technique like the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) ...
On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a decision confirming aboriginal title to approximately five percent of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation’s traditional territory in British Columbia. This decision is very significant because it marks the first time a ruling defines aboriginal title “on the ground”. ABORIGINAL RIGHTS The Constitution Act, 1982 provides that existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are recognized and affirmed ...
A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal clearly illustrates the kinds of problems caused by site contamination at a shopping centre. The case should be of interest to anyone who works on commercial transactions. If there is something to be learned from this story, it is that you need to understand risk before accepting it. THE FACTSBelow I relate the facts of the case in detail because they are key to understanding the conclusions to be drawn from what happened ...
International Oil Companies (IOCs) that have been eyeing East Africa may want to look beyond established jurisdictions like Kenya and Mozambique. Across the water that is, to the Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles, Mauritius and Comoros. All three islands offer interesting opportunities, but in this short article I’ll be concentrating on just one of them – Seychelles ...
Mexico’s package of energy reform laws (“Energy Law” – nine new laws and amendments to twelve existing laws) became a reality with its promulgation on Monday, August 11, 2014. With the enactment of the Energy Law, Mexico finally joins the international mainstream of energy resource development and management. This alert addresses only the oil and gas aspects of the reform ...
Action: On August 20, 2014, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on Risk Management, Financial Assurance and Loss Prevention.1 In a news release announcing the ANPR, BOEM described the ANPR as instituting a “dialogue” with industry and others on how to improve its risk management program by “modernizing” its current regulations, which are approximately 20 years old.Comments on the ANPR are due October 20, 2014 ...
The Polish Parliament is working on a bill known as the “Landscape Act,” which is intended to introduce effective mechanisms for protecting the landscape. But an unintended consequence could be to block the construction of aerial masts, power lines and wind turbines, rather than merely regulate their location. The Sejm is currently working on a bill proposed by the President of Poland entitled the Act Amending Certain Acts to Strengthen Tools for Protection of the Landscape ...
Those who build wind turbines are obliged to compensate their neighbours for noise pollution, visual interference and other disadvantages of the turbines. The issue of compensation is usually settled before the wind turbines are erected, and the amount does not necessarily reflect the actual noise levels or indeed the reductions in property value that usually accompany the erection of the turbines ...
This morning, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) filed a proposed interpretive rule (the “Interpretive Rule”) with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office implementing, in part, the recent Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”), which was enacted in response to the January 9, 2014 event that contaminated the water supply of approximately 300,000 West Virginia residents across nine counties ...
The Law 1450 of 2011 by means of which it was issued the National Development Plan for the period 2011-2014 provided in its article 112 the creation of a Single Registry of Marketers of Minerals ("RUCOM" by its acronyms in Spanish), which is managed by the National Mining Agency ("ANM" by its acronyms in Spanish) in order to control the marketing of minerals in Colombia ...
Despite diminishing enforcement budgets for state and federal agencies, a combination of technological and regulatory developments could significantly increase risk of enforcement activity in coming months and years. In particular, EPA is actively pursuing three key enforcement initiatives that will boost the likelihood that companies will face enforcement actions under the Clean Air Act ...
Based on a recent decision in West Virginia’s 3rd Judicial Circuit, which includes Doddridge, Pleasants and Ritchie counties, the use of litigation in the form of partition suits may be more problematic than it otherwise has been for oil and gas operators attempting to acquire property interests to create efficient drilling units for their planned wells. The Court’s decision (described below) denied a mineral interest owner’s request to partition by sale under W. Va. Code § 37-4-1 et seq ...
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”) on September 24, 2014 seeking comments on improving safety for operations related to helicopters, helidecks and aviation fuel systems on fixed offshore facilities. Comments on the ANPR are due November 24, 2014. The ANPR was issued just days after BSEE and the U.S ...
Environmental laws should not be understood as a limit to economic growth and development but as a crucial part of economy: the wise use of natural resources means greater benefit from raw materials and lower costs for inputs. At the same time, the quality of life for Brazilian citizens should be enhanced by an effective program of environmental sustainability ...
In yet another indication of the increasing prominence of water use issues in BC, the Supreme Court of British Columbia recently upheld the practice of the BC Oil and Gas Commission to grant recurrent short-term water approvals for oil and gas activities under the Water Act ...
More than 30 earthquakes jolted the area in and around the City of Azle, Texas - 20 miles north of Fort Worth - last November through January. In response to citizen concerns, the Texas House Committee on Energy Resources created a Subcommittee on Seismic Activity, to investigate whether there was a link between earthquakes and increased oil and gas production and disposal wells ...
On October 31, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its approval for the State of Texas to issue greenhouse gas (GHG) permits for new and modified facilities. In response to legislation enacted in the 2013 Texas Legislative session, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had submitted a state implementation plan to replace the existing federal program with TCEQ-issued GHG permits ...
Offsite drilling is becoming increasing prevalent in the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas. Consequently, many in the industry were closely following a dispute between two neighboring operators in the Eagle Ford Shale area in which one operator opposed a neighboring operator’s plans to use offsite drilling. On October 29, 2014, the San Antonio Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiff lease owner, Lightning Oil Co ...
It has long been known that Greenland possesses vast amounts of mineral resources. But due to climate changes, resulting in a rapid meltdown of ice caps in the Arctic regions, it is now getting easier to discover and exploit the mineral resources. The costs of exploring and exploiting minerals continue to decrease, and many experts believe that Greenland will become the next frontier within the mining industry ...
On December 2, 2014, the Yukon Supreme Court struck down the Yukon government’s Peel watershed regional land use plan because of the government’s failure to follow the process for developing that plan under final agreements (modern treaties) with the Na-Cho Nyak Dun, Tr’ondek Hwech’in and Vuntut Gwichin First Nations ...
Action: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued a final rule increasing the limit of liability for damages under the Oil Pollution Act to $133.65 million. BOEM’s Final Rule: On December 12, 2014, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a final rule that, effective January 12, 2015, will increase from $75 million to $133 ...
