The U.S. Justice Department is preparing to the stop the merger of Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal. The nearly $35 billion deal was struck to merge to the world’s second and third largest oil commodities. The impeding lawsuit would be the largest opposition the deal has faced since […]
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Rice Energy Inc. is set to pay $393,000 in fines for negligence, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Pipelines built by the company in Washington and Greene counties spilled nearly a 100 barrels of fracking wastewater, and caused a landslide. The construction also crossed over 20 streams without appropriate permits, in fact many of […]
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On December 9, 2015, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s (“AG”) office filed a civil complaint against Chesapeake Energy Corp., Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC, Chesapeake Operating, Inc., Chesapeake Energy Marketing, Inc., and Williams Partners, LP. The suit was filed in the Bradford County Court of Common Pleas. A copy of the complaint is available here. The AG’s lawsuit […]
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Many Oil and Gas leases are “paid up,” which means that the leasing company does not have to pay regular delay rental payments to hold the lease. However, in Pennsylvania, there are still some leases that require the leasing company to make “delay rental payments.” These are typically annual payments that are made until the […]
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Recently, the Pennsylvania Superior Court emphasized the difference between a “reservation” and an “exception” in a deed. The court explained that a reservation is a way for a person who conveys property to hold certain rights in things that do not yet exist (e.g. future gas royalties). Importantly, a reservation generally ends when the person […]
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In 2013, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a law that requires Oil and Gas producers to provide a minimum amount of information related to Oil and Gas production and royalties (e.g., the amount of gas produced, the selling price, and other related information). That information includes: A name, number or combination of name and number that […]
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If there is a dispute about who own oil and gas rights, Pennsylvania courts may likely look to a deed to determine what the parties to the transaction intended. In Wright v. Misty Mountain Farm, LLC, 2015 Pa. Super 218 (Oct. 9, 2015), the Pennsylvania Superior Court reviewed the issue of whether a married couple […]
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Power Source By Daniel Moore But for a diverse group of 14 large commercial and industrial customers — including the likes of the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Glass Works, Indiana Regional Medical Center and Sheetz Corp. — the real fight has just begun. While much of the rancor following the polar vortex involved customers who were not aware […]
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Power Source By Marc Levy HARRISBURG, PA. – Pennsylvania state investigators are close to wrapping up an investigation into complaints that landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania are being cheated of royalties by natural gas companies exploring the Marcellus Shale, Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Tuesday. Kane told the Senate Appropriations Committee that agents from the office’s […]
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Breaking Energy By KATE ROSOW CHRISMAN on August 25, 2014 at 12:00 PM With an almost eagle-eye-view of the Rocky Mountains from his office in Denver, Robert Attai advises clients on the emerging field of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), otherwise known as drones. A partner in the law firm of Husch Blackwell, his clients sometime […]
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