After opposing parties filed motions for rehearing in a pair of cases and two state officials advocated the same in amicus letters, the Texas Supreme Court relented on Nov. 20: Justices will reconsider two decisions that have unleashed a gusher of discussion in the world of oil and gas law.

The decisions in question, Exxon Corp. and Exxon Texas Inc. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co. and Exxon Corp. and Exxon Texas Inc. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co. and Laurie T. Miesch, et al ., are companion cases that involve the same oil patch in Refugio, Texas. Three oil and gas lawyers say the March 27 decisions muddy the waters on the question of when royalty owners and subsequent lessees can sue an operator for allegedly damaging oil wells. And the Texas land commissioner and the Texas comptroller of public accounts are concerned that the decisions could have a serious impact on state coffers, which derive hundreds of millions of dollars from oil and gas taxes and mineral interests each year.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]