Litigation

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Big Green Threatens New Lawsuit to Block Drilling in OH Wayne NF
April 5, 2024April 5, 2024

Wayne National Forest (click for larger version)

Last week, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a new draft plan to allow shale drilling to finally begin on land in Ohio’s Wayne National Forest (see BLM Floats Draft Assessment for Drilling in OH’s Wayne Nat’l Forest). Even though a majority of the land and mineral rights in WNF are privately owned, the BLM and various lawsuits from foreign-backed Big Green groups have blocked drilling in WNF for the past 15+ years. It’s a TRAGEDY and horrific injustice against private landowners. With the BLM’s new plan, the usual radicalized groups are back to announce they are watching and plan to sue once again.
Read More “Big Green Threatens New Lawsuit to Block Drilling in OH Wayne NF”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

SEC Forced to Hit Pause Button on Woke Climate Disclosure Reg
April 5, 2024April 5, 2024

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), corrupted by the Bidenistas, voted 3-2 (three Democrats vs. two Republicans) in March to issue a final regulation that will force all publicly traded companies to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the imaginary climate risks their businesses face (see Woke SEC Adopts Modified Version of Climate Disclosure Reg). The end result of the Biden SEC’s new regulations will be to “kneecap” oil and gas companies (see SEC Reg Requiring Disclosure of Climate Change Risk “Kneecaps” O&G). And that’s the purpose. A number of lawsuits have been filed against the new reg, including a lawsuit by 25 state Attorneys General (see The Many Lawsuits Challenging Woke SEC’s Climate Disclosure Reg).
Read More “SEC Forced to Hit Pause Button on Woke Climate Disclosure Reg”
Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Rice Energy

OH Landowners Appeal Jury Decision Allowing Pt Pleasant Drilling
April 3, 2024April 3, 2024

A royalty case that took nearly four years and hundreds of filings by both sides was finally decided by an Ohio jury in March (see OH Drillers Win Case Against Landowners re Drilling Deeper). The jury found in favor of several drillers (Ascent Resources, Gulfport Energy, Rice Energy) and against the rights owner (TERA II, LLC) in a case where the words “Point Pleasant” were not included in a lease agreement. The drillers drilled into the Point Pleasant, which sits on the border of the Utica, even though, technically, the lease did not allow it. The jury found the landowners did not “reserve their rights” to the Point Pleasant, given its location next to the Utica. The landowners are now appealing the jury decision.
Read More “OH Landowners Appeal Jury Decision Allowing Pt Pleasant Drilling”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia

Va. Landowners Appeal MVP Case to Supreme Court One Final Time
April 2, 2024April 2, 2024

You have to hand it to the left. They never give up on their mission to destroy this country. Big Green groups using (abusing) six uppity Virginia landowners who didn’t want the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross their well-groomed horse pastures have appealed a lawsuit recently dismissed by a federal court to the U.S. Supreme Court one last time. That is, if the Supremes decide to consider it again. It’s an open question if the Supremes will accept the case back.
Read More “Va. Landowners Appeal MVP Case to Supreme Court One Final Time”
Allegany County | Cattaraugus County | Empire Pipeline | Energy Services | Erie County (NY) | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | National Fuel | New York | Niagara County | Pipelines | Regulation

FERC Wins Lawsuit Against Sierra Club re NFG’s Northern Access Pipe
April 1, 2024April 1, 2024

National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) and its pipeline subsidiary Empire Pipeline have worked on a plan to build the Northern Access Pipeline since 2016. Northern Access is a 97-mile project from McKean County in Pennsylvania into and through Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Erie counties in New York that will flow Marcellus gas into New York State. The project was repeatedly delayed by the radicals of the Andrew Cuomo (now Kathy Hochul) administrations in NY. NFG still wants to build the project but needs more time. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave NFG an extra 35 months to get the project done in a decision in June 2022. The Sierra Club challenged FERC’s time extension. On Friday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit) rejected the Clubbers and said FERC properly extended the time to build the project.
Read More “FERC Wins Lawsuit Against Sierra Club re NFG’s Northern Access Pipe”
Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Federal Court Tosses Challenge to WV’s 2022 Forced Pooling Law
March 28, 2024March 28, 2024

Hopefully, we’re now at the conclusion of an effort to overturn a bill passed in early 2022 by the West Virginia legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 694, which finally brought forced pooling for shale wells to the Mountain State after eight years of trying (see WV House Passes Forced Pooling Bill, Done Deal When Gov Signs). A lawsuit brought by two West Virginia landowners seeking to overturn the state’s forced pooling (i.e., unitization) law was put on pause by a federal judge in December 2022 (see WV Landowner Lawsuit to Block Forced Pooling Law Dealt Another Blow). The federal judge said the lawsuit belongs in state court and that he did not have jurisdiction over the case. West Virginia officials disagreed and appealed the ruling to the next rung up the federal court ladder (see WV Appeals Lawsuit re Forced Pooling Law to Higher Fed Court).
Read More “Federal Court Tosses Challenge to WV’s 2022 Forced Pooling Law”
ESG | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

The Many Lawsuits Challenging Woke SEC’s Climate Disclosure Reg
March 28, 2024March 28, 2024

Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), corrupted by the Bidenistas, voted 3-2 (three Democrats vs. two Republicans) to issue a final regulation that will force all publicly traded companies to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the imaginary climate risks their businesses face (see Woke SEC Adopts Modified Version of Climate Disclosure Reg). The end result of the Biden SEC’s new regulations will be to “kneecap” oil and gas companies (see SEC Reg Requiring Disclosure of Climate Change Risk “Kneecaps” O&G). And that’s the purpose. The Bidenistas and the left are looking to close down fossil fuel companies by using regulatory agencies like the SEC. Not so fast. A plethora (too many to count) of companies, organizations, and states are suing the SEC in an attempt to overturn the new reg.
Read More “The Many Lawsuits Challenging Woke SEC’s Climate Disclosure Reg”
ESG | Industrywide Issues | Litigation

Mississippi Issues BlackRock Cease & Desist Order re ESG Investing
March 28, 2024March 28, 2024

BlackRock, the largest investment firm in the world with over $9 trillion in assets under management, continues to reap the bitter fruit of its woke ESG investment strategies. Last week, we told you that Texas has pulled some $8.5 billion away from BlackRock over its ESG ways (see Texas Yanks $8.5 BILLION Out of BlackRock re ESG). Yesterday, the State of Mississippi sent BlackRock a “cease and desist” order accusing the company of fraud in its representations to Mississippi investors. Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock) is up to his rear-end in alligators.
Read More “Mississippi Issues BlackRock Cease & Desist Order re ESG Investing”
American Energy Partners Inc. | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Wastewater

Ohio AG Sues Austin Master Services for Unsafe Storage of Wastewater
March 27, 2024March 27, 2024

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost took legal action Monday, seeking to force Austin Master Services in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), OH, to correct “egregious violations of Ohio law” regarding storage of oil and gas waste that he says threatens the Ohio River (500 feet away) and Martins Ferry’s drinking water supply (1,000 feet away). Austin Master Services serves the Marcellus/Utica industry (and other industries) with radiological waste management solutions, including remediation, decontamination & decommissioning (D&D), and transportation. The company was bought by and is now a subsidiary of PA-based American Environmental Partners, Inc. (see American Energy Buys Radioactive Waste Co. Austin Master Services).
Read More “Ohio AG Sues Austin Master Services for Unsafe Storage of Wastewater”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Bucks County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania

Bucks County, PA, Sues Big Oil for Causing “Climate Change”
March 26, 2024March 26, 2024

The two Democrats and one anti-drilling RINO who run Bucks County government (a Philadelphia suburb) fell for the bait by Big Green and filed a lawsuit against Big Oil companies for supposedly, knowingly, causing the Earth to toast to a cinder (even though real science shows a slight warming on Earth due to the orbit of the planet Mars). The problem is this lawfare seemingly came out of nowhere. It was hatched secretly by green groups, including the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) – a Rockefeller-funded D.C. activist group. There were no public meetings. No public input. No public announcements. It was completely hush-hush, with a full media blackout until the lawsuit was filed. In other words, it was CORRUPT. Whose pockets are getting lined by this action?
Read More “Bucks County, PA, Sues Big Oil for Causing “Climate Change””
CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

16 States Sue Biden Admin Over Pause in LNG Export Approvals
March 22, 2024March 22, 2024

Finally, a little legal action to push back against Joe Biden’s “pause” on approving new LNG export applications. In January, Joementia announced he would “pause” any approvals for new LNG export plants (currently 17 requests in the pipeline) for at least one year while his people fart around pretending to figure out how to measure global warming as a new consideration for whether or not to approve projects (see White House Makes it Official – Biden Declares War on LNG Exports). It was a purely political move aimed at currying favor with the radical left. Yesterday, 16 state Attorneys General filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to end the pause.
Read More “16 States Sue Biden Admin Over Pause in LNG Export Approvals”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Rice Energy

OH Federal Judge Allows “Drilled Too Deep” Case to Proceed
March 21, 2024March 21, 2024

Here’s a strange one we don’t quite understand. Yet. Two weeks ago we brought you the news that a jury in a federal court had decided a group of Utica shale drillers, including Rice Drilling (now EQT), Ascent Resources, XTO, and Gulfport Energy, were not guilty of “unjust enrichment” by drilling into the Point Pleasant shale layer that sits immediately below the Utica (see OH Drillers Win Case Against Landowners re Drilling Deeper). The very same federal court with the very same federal judge has just denied a request by some of the same drillers to throw out a similar case. In this new case (Honey Crest Acres v. Rice Drilling & Gulfport Energy), the judge is allowing the plaintiffs to proceed to make their case for unjust enrichment against Rice and Gulfport.
Read More “OH Federal Judge Allows “Drilled Too Deep” Case to Proceed”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Regulation | Transco | Williams

Fed Court Quizzes Enviros and NJ re Williams Transco Expansion
March 18, 2024March 18, 2024

A three-judge panel from the federal D.C. Circuit spent two hours on Friday hearing arguments for and against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of Williams’ Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project. REAE is an expansion of the mighty Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus gas to PA, NJ, and Maryland. Part of the project was done and went online last year (see Williams 1Q – Regional Energy Access Pipe Coming Online Early). The balance of the project is scheduled to be completed and online by the end of this year.
Read More “Fed Court Quizzes Enviros and NJ re Williams Transco Expansion”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

Texas Sues EPA to Block “Radical” Methane Regs Threatening Drillers
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

EPA Administrator Michael Regan used a considerable amount of fossil energy and emitted tons of carbon dioxide to jet over to Dubai in December to participate in the COP28 confab, where he released a final rule that was “two years in the making” to force the U.S. oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions by using budget-busting new technologies and onerous (frequent) inspections (see Bidenistas Unleash Hellscape of U.S. Methane Regs at COP28). An analysis by Enverus said these onerous new regs will likely force the closure of some one-third (34%) of actively producing gas wells in the country and result in the bankruptcy of many small drillers (see New Biden EPA Methane Rule Will Kill One-Third of Active Gas Wells). The State of Texas has just filed a lawsuit challenging the rule. Texas is the first to sue, but certainly won’t be the last.
Read More “Texas Sues EPA to Block “Radical” Methane Regs Threatening Drillers”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

Woke SEC Adopts Modified Version of Climate Disclosure Reg
March 7, 2024March 7, 2024

In March 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), corrupted by the Bidenistas, said it would begin to force all publicly traded companies to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the imaginary climate risks their businesses face (see SEC Votes to Force Public Companies to Disclose Mythical GHG Risks). The original plan called for publicly traded companies to disclose their own direct (“Scope 1”) and indirect (“Scope 2”) GHG emissions. It would also require companies to disclose greenhouse gases generated by suppliers and partners, known as Scope 3 emissions. Yesterday, the SEC voted 3-2 (three Democrats vs. two Republicans) to issue a final regulation that will soon go into effect. The final version dumped Scope 3 emissions but kept Scopes 1 and 2 — in a massive 886-page regulatory rule.
Read More “Woke SEC Adopts Modified Version of Climate Disclosure Reg”
Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Rice Energy | XTO

OH Drillers Win Case Against Landowners re Drilling Deeper
March 6, 2024March 6, 2024

Back in the summer of 2020, MDN told you about a lawsuit brought by an Ohio rights owner called TERA, an organization that owns the royalty rights for a number of leases with wells in Belmont County, OH, drilled by different producers, suing the producers for drilling into the Point Pleasant shale layer when the lease only mentions the Utica layer (see OH Landowners Sue Rice, Ascent, XTO, Gulfport for Drilling Too Deep). The case took nearly four years and hundreds of filings by both sides, but last week, a jury found in favor of the drillers (the defendants) and against the rights owner (the plaintiffs). This case likely has far-reaching consequences for landowners and drillers in Ohio.
Read More “OH Drillers Win Case Against Landowners re Drilling Deeper”