02/13/2012 - Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence Guest Article: The Arctic is White Hot
With its permanent icecap shrinking, and with the Antarctic closed for commercial exploration and military use, interest in the Arctic Ocean for oil and gas exploration and transportation is increasing.

08/23/2011 - Fracking Legal Landscape Updated in Haynes and Boone White Paper
HOUSTON – Haynes and Boone, LLP energy attorneys have published an update to their comprehensive and highly regarded “American Law and Jurisprudence on Fracking,” a white paper that examines the legal, environmental and regulatory climate in active shale play states.

02/18/2011 - New Requirements in Texas for Approval of Plugging Extensions
Effective September 1, 2010, the Texas Railroad Commission issued new regulations for oil and gas operators related to inactive onshore wells and associated equipment pursuant to House Bill 2259 which dramatically changed requirements for extension of plugging obligations for inactive wells.

01/06/2011 - Feds Convene Meeting to Discuss Regulations Curtailing Offshore Natural Gas Venting
In a move that indicates significant regulatory changes may be coming to deepwater operations, federal authorities are eyeing new rules curtailing venting of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico.

12/01/2010 - American Law and Jurisprudence on Fracking
The substantial growth of domestic unconventional shale resources in recent years has partially been a result of the increase in the use of hydraulic fracturing. This report deals with hydraulic fracturing and the legal and technical issues associated with it.

10/25/2010 - Gas Shale and Hydraulic Fracturing Work for Our Nation
Recent distress in the nation’s economy has not dampened the new natural gas boom sweeping up the Appalachians. Until recently, natural gas could not be economically produced from “tight” rock formations like the Marcellus Shale stretching from Western New York into Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The widespread use of modern hydraulic fracturing techniques has changed that.

09/15/2010 - Exploring the Great White North
The Arctic Ocean is vast both geographically - covering more than 14 million square kilometers, an area comparable to onshore Russia - and in its hydrocarbon resource potential.

08/25/2010 - Gas Bonanza: How hydraulic fracturing can work for New York
Recent distress in the economy has not dampened the new natural gas boom sweeping up the Appalachians. Until recently, natural gas could not be economically produced from “tight” rock formations like the Marcellus Shale in Upstate New York. The widespread use of modern hydraulic fracturing techniques has changed that.

08/24/2010 - Recent Statutory and Regulatory Developments Related to Hydraulic Fracturing in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio
The use of hydraulic fracturing, sometimes called "fracking," has made it economically possible to produce hydrocarbons, mainly gas, from the central Appalachian region of the eastern United States. Shale gas development from the Marcellus Shale is focused in four states: New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

08/22/2010 - Gas shale and ‘fracing’ work for New York
Recent distress in the nation’s economy has not dampened the new natural gas boom sweeping up the Appalachians. Until recently, natural gas could not be economically produced from “tight” rock formations like the Marcellus Shale in Western New York. The widespread use of modern hydraulic fracturing techniques has changed that.

07/16/2010 - Shale wells are well-regulated: Pennsylvania has all the tools it needs to extract gas safely
Americans everywhere are familiar with the iconic Pennsylvania image of Drake's Well in Titusville, the first oil well in America. Nowadays, oil and gas are often extracted from "tight" rock formations that do not allow for "gushers" like in the old movies.

07/08/2010 - Law Applicable to Hydraulic Fracturing in the Shale States
The use of hydraulic fracturing has made it economically possible to produce hydrocarbons from reservoirs which previously would have been uneconomical to develop. Now, an extraordinary oil and gas boom is afoot in America, and onshore natural gas production is advancing at an extraordinary pace.

04/01/2010 - The Arctic: Past the Last Frontier
The use of the Arctic Ocean for exploration and transportation is increasing, as is disagreement regarding the rights of nations encircling it - Canada, Finland, Denmark (Greenland), Russia, and the United States.

03/03/2010 - Guide to SEC Reporting Changes (Revised)
Since the start of 2009, there have been material changes to the form and content of periodic reports and proxy statements. This memorandum outlines the changes in the federal securities laws and New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) rules since January 2009 that impact the form and content of 2009 Forms 10-K and 2010 proxy statements for domestic issuers subject to Regulation S-K.

09/01/2009 - Revisiting the Executive Right to Lease Oil & Gas Interests
In Texas, a fee simple absolute ownership of the entirety of a parcel of land includes both a surface and mineral estate. This article provides an introduction to the concepts of executive rights and examines various issues related to the executive right to lease oil and gas interests and other duties of the executive.

05/22/2009 - Operator Removal Under the 1989 Form "Joint Operating Agreement" in Texas
In the current difficult economic climate, the number of operators having problems making timely payment to contractors for oilfield services is increasing. Litigation over whether certain exploration and production activities of an operator constitute a violation of the “good and workmanlike” standard has often ended favorably for operators. However, questions related to the financial obligations of an operator are different in recent case law.

05/01/2009 - Surface Use and Access for Oil and Gas Exploration in Frontier Areas
Leasing and exploration for oil and gas can cause headaches for landmen and lawyers when actual ownership varies from ownership of record and the surface and mineral estate have been separated. In such cases, the surface owner may have no incentive to see minerals developed and may be opposed if the development will cause him nuisance or harm the value of his surface properties. In addition, periods of high prices have empowered surface mineral owners to make more demands from operators.
Reprinted with permission from the May/June 2009 Landman Magazine © 2009 American Association of Professional Landmen.

05/01/2009 - Surface Damages, Site-Remediation and Well Bonding in Wyoming - Results and Analysis of Recent Regulations
A great oil and gas boom is afoot in America and Canada and onshore production is advancing at an extraordinary pace. For some states, this production is without historical precedent. Consequently, they are now facing the environmental and surface-use issues related to hydrocarbon development that states with established production have wrestled with for a long time…
Reprinted courtesy of Wyoming Law Review, Summer 2009.

04/23/2009 - Staking Claim On The Last Energy Frontier
The Arctic is warming up in more ways than one. Roused by oil and gas exploration and cross-polar shipping, the nations bordering the Arctic are jostling for position.
Reprinted with permission from Law360, www.law360.com

03/01/2009 - SEC Adopts New Reserve Definition
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently made its first major modification to reserve reporting requirements since 1982. The SEC’s new rules rely in part on the definitions contained in the Petroleum Resource Management System as adopted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and other organizations in March 2007. The new rules will allow exploration and production companies to provide additional, relevant information on their asset base and management’s decision making process.
© Bloomberg Finance L.P. 2009. Originally published by Bloomberg Finance LP. Reprinted by permission.

01/26/2009 - SEC Issues New Reserve Reporting Requirements
On December 29, 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released revisions to its reserve reporting requirements. The new rules are effective as of January 1, 2010, and early compliance is not permitted.

12/01/2008 - Additional Provisions to Form Joint Operating Agreements
Reprinted with permission from Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, Vol. 33, No. 2, December 2008
In 1956, the American Association of Petroleum Landmen (“AAPL”) published the first version of its model form joint operating agreement, designated AAPL Form 610 (“JOA”). This form is now the most popular form in use for parties seeking to combine oil and gas leases owned by multiple parties into an operating area and govern subsequent operations thereon. While there are other operating agreement forms, most have evolved from one of the earlier forms developed by the AAPL, including domestic offshore joint operating agreements. “As a result, judicial and academic concepts developed in the context of one JOA or one dispute are increasingly viewed as generally applicable to all JOAs.”

06/01/2008 - Practitioner’s Pathfinder for Approaching Foreign Investment in Oil & Gas Real Property in Texas and New Mexico
Transnational Law Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 3, June, 2008. Reprinted by permission.
This article details certain regulations, restrictions, reporting rules and treaties that govern, encumber and protect the direct purchase and ownership of oil and gas real property within the United States by companies organized outside the United States, with the aim of providing a roadmap for domestic or foreign practitioners considering questions of direct or subsidiary foreign investment in oil and gas real properties located, more specifically, in Texas or New Mexico.