19 results for 'cat:"Energy" AND cat:"Real Estate"'.
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court improperly abstained from ruling on the federal constitutional claims. Two landowners sought to challenge a new West Virginia law that authorized the combining of separately owned mineral tracts to form a single operating unit overlapping all or part of a common source of oil or gas, claiming the statute constitutes a taking of their property and deprives them of property without due process of law, in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The lower court abstained, claiming the case would be better litigated in state courts. According to the lower court, the West Virginia constitutional provision is not ‘broad and sweeping’ but is directly pertinent to the issues presented in this case. The lower court did not identify the West Virginia constitutional provision that it had in mind, nor did it identify any state law issue on which the commission’s motion to dismiss the federal constitutional claims would turn. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 22-2271, Categories: energy, Property, real Estate
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in its reading of a deed in a mineral rights dispute. The “only interpretation of the deed harmonizing all its provisions” is one in which both parties bear the burden of paying out a “non-participating royalty interest” owned by the state, and therefore the lower court erred in granting summary judgment to appellee company relieving it of this burden. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00140-CV, Categories: energy, Property, real Estate
J. Choe-Groves grants permanent injunctive relief to the government and the Osage Nation in this lawsuit against the developers of a wind turbine farm. Equitable relief is due on the claim of continuing trespass, specifically "in the form of ejectment of the wind towers," though the court will allow for input as to the timing. The court will also hold a trial to determine monetary damages for the trespass and conversion claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Choe-Groves, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 4:14cv704, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: energy, real Estate, Conversion
J. Rodriguez finds a lower court ruled correctly in granting summary judgment to an oil company in a convoluted dispute with a property owner over “the validity of oil and gas leases and related partnership claims” after the oil company allowed its lease with the property owner to lapse in what he said was a breach of contract and fraud. There is “no evidence” of the company and property owner’s “intent to be business partners,” and therefore the oil company did not breach any agreements with the owner by failing to proactively communicate with him about the end of his lease. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00129-CV, Categories: energy, real Estate, Contract
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J. Bailey finds that remand is appropriate in this case concerning "the interpretation of a 1924 deed." The Texas Supreme Court previously ruled in a separate case involving "mineral interests in the same property," and the court concludes that remand is proper in this case "for further consideration in light of the supreme court's decision." Vacated.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Bailey, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 11-19-00196-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, energy, real Estate
J. Trotter finds that remand is appropriate in this case concerning "the interpretation of a 1924 deed." A separate case involving "an identical dispute over mineral interests" was previously appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, and that case was remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. The lower court should have the chance to consider this dispute "in light of the supreme court's holding." Vacated.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Trotter, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 11-19-00195-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, energy, real Estate
J. Quinn finds that the lower court improperly ruled against the appellant in this suit involving "the disputed interpretation of a shut-in royalty clause included in two leases." The lower court erred in determining that the clause was ambiguous and concluding that the appellees' interpretation was proper. Accordingly, the matter is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Quinn, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 07-22-00242-CV, Categories: energy, real Estate, Contract
J. Bailey finds that the lower court improperly granted summary judgment in this dispute involving the reservation of a nonparticipating royalty interest in "a 1952 general warranty deed." The lower court ruled that "the reservation was ineffective under Duhig." However, the appellants' issues are sustained, as Duhig does not require that the grantors or their successors "are estopped from asserting title to the reserved" interest. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Bailey, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 11-21-00154-CV, Categories: energy, real Estate
J. Counts partially grants summary judgment to both sides in a dispute over oil and gas leases, royalty payments and “impermissible costs” that well operators allegedly deducted from their payments to the leaseholder. Among other things, the leaseholder is entitled to summary judgment on a claim that the operators face liability under the Texas Natural Resources Code because the operators failed to make payments to him within the “applicable period” as plainly required by law.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Counts, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv20, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: energy, real Estate, Contract
J. Rodriguez finds a lower court ruled correctly in determining that an existing mineral lessee, and not a separate company that later entered a water-rights contract with the surface owners, owns the rights to produced water from a hydraulic fracking operation. While the contracts at first may seem contradictory on this front, the contracts were created within “a legal framework distinguishing oil and gas waste from groundwater” and categorizing produced water as “within the former,” and therefore rights to produced water fall within the mineral lessee’s mineral rights. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00037-CV, Categories: energy, real Estate, Water
J. Thomson finds a company is entitled to minerals in a mineral-rights dispute stemming from a “lengthy and complicated dispute between
heirs.” While the details of a 1980 will were admissible evidence that some heirs should have been given notice of a “heirship proceeding,” they were not enough to “negate” the purchasing rights of the company in question because that company established purchase through a “valid” judgment more than a decade ago. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-38601, Categories: energy, real Estate, Wills / Probate
J. Soto withdraws this court’s previous opinion issued on Jan. 23, 2023, and substitutes it for one finding a lower court erred in granting summary judgment in a mineral rights dispute concerning the wording of a decades-old deed. A careful reading of that deed shows it established “a mineral estate shorn of all attributes but for the right to receive a royalty interest if and when there was production on the land.” Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 08-21-00217-CV, Categories: energy, real Estate, Contract
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in determining royalties in a mineral rights dispute. A careful reading of a mineral rights deed, as well as an understanding of “the ‘usual’ royalty during the era in which [the 1937 deed] was drafted,” shows the appealing parties are correct that they should have reserved a “1/2 floating royalty interest” rather than a “1/16th fixed royalty,” as the lower court determined. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00168-CV, Categories: energy, real Estate
J. Rodriguez grants a motion for summary judgment and dismisses a case involving a convoluted dispute over mineral rights. Parties who alleged that they were not being fairly compensated for mineral leases raised a number of issues, including alleging that a company involved in the dispute had violated the Texas Natural Resources Code, but based on the relevant leases and contracts in this case, those parties were simply "not owed the contested royalties."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv558, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: energy, real Estate, Contract
J. Trotter finds that the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the appellees and ruled that a correction deed is "valid and enforceable" in this lawsuit involving the division of a mineral interest. Contrary to appellants' argument, the 1960 deed is not void. For a correction deed to be valid, there is not a "requirement that an error or ambiguity must exist in the original deed." Affirmed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Trotter, Filed On: June 8, 2023, Case #: 11-21-00201-CV, Categories: energy, real Estate