Shutterstock_78081322Surface damage – what must operators do to accommodate existing uses of the surface estate?

Today we conclude Blawgletter's seven-part series on the Hottest Oil & Gas Claims for 2015, a paper we co-wrote for the 66th Oil & Gas Law Conference in Houston. This last piece deals with maybe the hardest claim to make

The Hottest Oil & Gas Claims for 2015.001Short-payment of royalties – when do post-production costs cross the line into unreasonableness?

This next-to-last entry in Blawgletter's seven-part series on the hottest oil & gas claims for returns to the theme of royalty owners who receive less than they believe the lease entitles them to. Part 6 addresses what happens when the operator deducts

Flaring GasBlawgletter offers the fourth installment in the seven-part series on the Hottest Oil & Gas Claims for 2015. This time, we address whether flaring gas qualifies as "use" on which the operator must pay royalties.

Legal backdrop

Royalty clauses typically require payment of royalty for oil and gas “produced from the Leased Premises and sold or