( May 6, 2026, 8:54 AM EDT) -- NEW ORLEANS — The energy company XTO Energy Inc. has filed a response brief asking the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a lower court’s decision that ruled that a Pugh clause in a mineral lease did not apply to the compulsory unitization of wells. XTO says that when a leasehold is compelled to be unitized by the Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation, a Pugh clause must unambiguously provide that it applies to compulsory units....