Mealey's Fracking
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February 07, 2023
Energy Company Says City Of Los Angeles Took Its Property Unconstitutionally
LOS ANGELES — An energy company on Feb. 6 sued the city of Los Angeles in California federal court contending that it is liable for the unconstitutional taking of property related to its oil and gas leases without just compensation and arguing that the city has infringed on the company’s right to free speech.
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February 03, 2023
Mineral Interest Holders Tell Texas Supreme Court It Must Clarify Indemnity Issue
AUSTIN, Texas — Two oil and gas interest holders who are challenging a $71.61 million jury award for Exxon Mobil Corp. have filed a reply brief in the Texas Supreme Court arguing that the court should grant their petition to clarify that settlements for which indemnity is sought must be allocated between indemnified and nonindemnified matters.
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February 02, 2023
Landowners: ‘No Valid Reason’ For Order To Stop Discovery In Abandoned Well Case
WHEELING, W.Va. — Landowners who are suing a hydraulic fracturing operator on Feb. 1 filed a brief in West Virginia federal court contending that “there is no valid reason” to grant the operator’s motion to disqualify the plaintiffs’ counsel, nor is there a reason to issue a protective order to stop discovery of non-public information while the motion to disqualify is pending.
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February 02, 2023
10th Circuit Partly Reverses In Groups’ Fracking Permit Dispute
DENVER — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not predetermine the results of a supplemental environmental analysis for hydraulic fracturing permits but violated federal law by not thoroughly examining the impact the permit approvals have on certain emissions, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Feb. 1 in a partial win for a Native American association and environmental groups.
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February 01, 2023
Remand Needed To Decide Sovereign Rights Issue In Fracking Suit, Tribe Argues
ST. LOUIS — A dispute between a North Dakota Indian tribe and the federal government over a hydraulic fracturing project on tribal land should be remanded to decide whether the project poses enough of a threat to tribal health and welfare that the tribe retains its inherent sovereign power to regulate it, the tribe tells the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a reply brief.
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February 01, 2023
Groups Say Federal Agency Violated Law With Issuance Of 32 Fracking Leases
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Environmental groups have filed a petition in New Mexico federal court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), contending that they violated federal laws when they authorized 32 oil and gas leases covering more than 5,942 acres in New Mexico that would become available for hydraulic fracturing.
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January 30, 2023
President Biden’s National Monument Reservations Were ‘Unlawful,’ Utah Says
SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah and two municipalities have filed an amended complaint in their lawsuit against the Biden administration over the dimensions of two national monuments, the boundaries of which have potential implications for hydraulic fracturing and have been disputed across multiple presidential administrations. The plaintiffs argue that the Antiquities Act “never contemplates ‘monuments’ double the size of Delaware.”
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January 27, 2023
Groups Ask Supreme Court To To Hear Case About Outer Continental Shelf Fracking
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A hydraulic fracturing trade group and its affiliates have filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that a lower court interpreted the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) in a way that imposes redundant obligations on federal agencies and private permittees, which they say is “plainly wrong.”
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January 27, 2023
Fracking Trade Groups Sue Federal Agency For Failure To Conduct Lease Sales
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Two energy industry trade groups have filed a petition in Wyoming federal court arguing that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has violated the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) because it failed to conduct any lease sales for hydraulic fracturing in the fourth quarter of 2022.
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January 27, 2023
Group Sues Los Angeles For Ordinance Prohibiting New Fracking Activities
LOS ANGELES — A group representing mineral rights royalty owners has sued the city of Los Angeles in California state court seeking a writ of mandamus compelling the city to vacate and rescind an ordinance prohibiting new oil and gas extraction, arguing that the rule is preempted by state law.
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January 27, 2023
Exxon: $71.61M Award In Fracking Case Is ‘Correct In All Relevant Aspects’
AUSTIN, Texas — Exxon Mobil Corp. has filed a response brief in Texas Supreme Court contending that a lower court’s ruling that affirmed a $71.61 million jury award for Exxon related to a hydraulic fracturing lease dispute is “correct in all relevant aspects,” and it says the appellate arguments challenging it are “insubstantial.”
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January 26, 2023
Judge Says Cross-Unit Drilling On Fracking Wells Does Not Violate Pennsylvania Law
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted a hydraulic fracturing company’s motion for summary judgment in a dispute over a clause in a drilling contract, ruling that cross-unit drilling does not violate state law.
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January 26, 2023
Federal Agencies Agree To Further Analysis Of Impact Of Challenged Fracking Leases
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and an environmental advocacy group on Jan. 25 filed a joint motion in District of Columbia federal court dismissing a lawsuit that challenged the DOI’s decision to offer 32 oil and gas leases for hydraulic fracturing based on a stipulated settlement agreement that calls for additional analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as well as consideration of something referred to as a “no leasing” alternative.
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January 25, 2023
Company Says It Has Not Breached Its Fracking Contract Under Ohio Law
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A hydraulic fracturing operator filed a reply brief in Ohio federal court arguing that the plaintiff fracking company that is suing it for breach of contract related to overriding royalty interests (ORRI) in oil and gas deposits has filed a brief seeking summary judgment that is “a labyrinth of contradictory arguments.” It also says Ohio law supports its argument.
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January 13, 2023
State Of Louisiana, Industry Group Say Federal Fracking Lease Case Is ‘Irrelevant’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Petroleum Institute (API) and the state of Louisiana have filed a reply brief in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals contending that it should dismiss as moot or reverse a case in which environmental groups challenge a federal hydraulic fracturing lease sale pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because the lawsuit is now “irrelevant.”
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January 12, 2023
Fracking Operator Seeks Ruling On Liability Regarding Overriding Royalty Interests
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a reply brief in Ohio federal court arguing that it should issue judgment in its favor as to another fracking company’s liability on claims for breach of contract and declaratory judgment regarding overriding royalty interests in oil and gas deposits.
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January 12, 2023
Fracking Operator: Fraud Case Dismissal Proper, As Per Judge’s Recommendation
DENVER — A hydraulic fracturing company and its officers filed a brief in Colorado federal court responding to the objections raised by plaintiff shareholders who disagree with a magistrate judge’s report that recommends that their securities fraud action be dismissed. The company maintains that the report’s “comprehensive analysis of the complaint’s deficiencies is correct.”
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January 12, 2023
11th Circuit Reverses, Remands Mineral Rights Case, Says Issues Of Fact Remain
ATLANTA — A panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded a lower court ruling and has determined that genuine issues of material fact exist in a mineral rights dispute based on discrepancies in information pertaining to whether one of the parties drilled mineral samples on the property in question.
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January 12, 2023
Panel: Fracking Lease Had Not Expired; Operator’s Production Activity Was Proper
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — An Ohio appellate panel has affirmed dismissal of a hydraulic fracturing lease dispute on grounds that the oil and gas lease in question had not expired but had extended into a secondary term and remained in full force and effect and, therefore, the fracking operator was within its rights to continue production on the plaintiffs’ property.
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January 12, 2023
Panel: Fracking Operator Did Not Breach Mineral Rights Lease With Landowners
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — An appellate panel in Ohio has affirmed a trial court’s decision and held that a hydraulic fracturing operator did not breach its lease with landowners regarding its payment of royalties in connection with a mineral rights contract.
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January 12, 2023
Pipeline Company Tells Supreme Court Decision On Petition Should Not Be Deferred
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A hydraulic fracturing pipeline company has filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing a landowner’s motion to defer consideration of his petition for writ of certiorari pending resolution of two separate cases, arguing that the case at hand does not cite either of the separate lawsuits, despite certiorari having been granted in those cases months before the instant petition was filed.
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January 12, 2023
Briefly: 3rd Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing Of Nuns’ RFRA Pipeline Challenge
PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied a petition for rehearing en banc sought by Roman Catholic nuns who disagreed with a panel’s decision that their opposition to a hydraulic fracturing pipeline underneath the grounds of their property pursuant to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) constituted a collateral attack on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the project.
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January 10, 2023
Briefly: 5th Circuit Says Clean Water Permit For Pipeline Was Issued Properly
NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for review sought by a group of shrimpers and fishermen related to a clean air permit dispute for a natural gas pipeline, ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not act arbitrarily in its conclusions regarding the impact of pipeline construction on the environment and the need for compensatory mitigation.
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January 10, 2023
Groups Seek To Intervene In National Monument Case To Preserve Historic Objects
SALT LAKE CITY — Three groups have filed a brief in Utah federal court arguing that they should be permitted to intervene in a lawsuit over the dimensions of two national monuments, the boundaries of which have potential implications for hydraulic fracturing, because the groups say they “have the full preservation of the Monument and protection of its objects of historic and scientific interest at the heart of their organizational missions.”
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January 10, 2023
Texas Railroad Commission Says Anti-Pooling Decision Was Proper Under State Law
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) filed a brief in the Texas Supreme Court contending that it was within its discretion when it ruled against a hydraulic fracturing operator’s request to have the RRC force pooling of oil and gas resources on a parcel of land.