An overview of recent decisions of Louisiana federal and state courts related to Louisiana mineral law.

The presentation will compare and contrast the Louisiana and Texas rules on several lease administration issues that become relevant once a well begins producing. It will cover topics such as shut-in payments, the use of division orders, whether or not royalty payments can be suspended, penalties for non-payment, under payment, or late payment of royalties, remedies for over payment of royalties.

This paper will examine the “habendum clause” of the mineral lease, specifically as it pertains to the requirement that production must be in “paying quantities.”  Particular emphasis will be on the impact of historically low commodity prices on the standard for lease maintenance, as such prices have been affected by market conditions (worldwide supply and demand) and economic slowdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.  The paper will examine the principal underpinning of the doctrine of production in “paying quantities,” as articulated by the Texas Supreme Court in Clifton v. Koontz, 325 S.W. 2d 684 (Tex. 1959) that “the standard by which paying quantities is determined is whether or not under all the relevant circumstances a reasonably prudent operator would, for the purpose of making a profit and not merely for speculation, continue to operate a well in the manner in which the well in question was operated.”  

For those new to the practice or needing a refresher: an overview of the process of finding oil and gas and bringing it to the surface, as well as some of the needed agreements.

This presentation will cover the laws and regulations that cover reporting of and responses to spills of potentially harmful or hazardous substances.

This panel will focus on renewable energy development with a particular focus on solar, carbon sequestration, and offshore wind. The presenters will discuss a variety of topics, including securing surface rights in connection with solar farm developments; public and private CO2 sequestration agreements; and the federal regulatory framework for offshore wind leasing and the recent initiatives to increase offshore wind leasing, including the Gulf of Mexico.

Panel of experienced in -house lawyers talk about their perspectives on litigation, operational, title and transactional issues, how different jurisdictions can change their approach, and best practices for outside counsel.

This presentation will cover restrictions on assignments of oil and gas rights, including consent-to-assign clauses, rights of first refusal, and clauses that place conditions on the persons to whom an assignment can be made.

This presentation will cover developments in the ethics laws and rules that govern lawyers.

This presentation will examine the interaction of state and local law, including circumstances in which one or the other or both apply, in the context of oil and gas development.

The past two years were pivotal in the legacy and related citizen suits world. The Louisiana Supreme Court considered issues at the forefront of plaintiffs’ recovery for alleged property damage due to historic oil and gas operations. The presentation will focus on the Louisiana Supreme Court’s recent opinions in this field, as well as key opinions from the appellate courts.

This presentation will compare and contrast the regulation of oil and gas and other natural resource development in Texas and Louisiana.