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Mealey's Fracking

  • September 05, 2025

    9th Circuit Nixes Rehearing En Banc In Groups’ Bid To Stop Willow Project

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued a formal mandate enforcing a panel’s split decision that “largely” affirmed a lower court’s order granting summary judgment for government defendants in a hydraulic fracturing dispute related to the Willow Project, a fracking operation in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.  The mandate was issued following the Ninth Circuit’s denial of a petition for rehearing en banc in which environmental and Native American groups said the decision was “contrary to Ninth Circuit precedent.”

  • September 05, 2025

    U.S. Agriculture Department Begins Process To Implement Trump’s Energy Orders

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a notice in the Federal Register stating that is initiating an environmental impact statement (EIS) and rulemaking process concerning management related to approximately 44.7 million acres of National Forest System lands, including in Alaska, to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald J. Trump pertaining to “unleashing” Alaska’s resource potential.

  • September 04, 2025

    Chevron Files Supplemental Notice Insisting Groups Lack Standing In Drilling Case

    FRESNO, Calif. — Chevron USA Inc. and another oil company on Sept. 3 filed a notice of supplemental authority in California federal court in their bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought by environmental groups challenging federal approval of permits to drill in the San Joaquin Valley, arguing that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ recent ruling in Satanic Temple v. Labrador affirms the defendants’ argument in their motion to dismiss, in which they contend that the groups fail to plausibly allege standing.

  • September 03, 2025

    Briefly: Class Seeks Approval Of $15M Deal In Securities Fraud Case About Pipeline

    PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 2 filed a brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million.

  • September 03, 2025

    Oil Company Seeks Review Of Ruling That Nullified Its Right To Drill

    SAN FRANCISCO — An oil company on Sept. 2 filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that it should review a lower court’s dismissal of the company’s claim for inverse condemnation in a dispute over a default judgment that nullified the company’s zoning clearance to conduct drilling operations because to challenge the lower court’s dismissal of its claims, the oil company had to wait until the district court entered a final judgment.

  • September 03, 2025

    Leaseholders: Royalty Class Claim ‘Well-Founded,’ Fracking Company’s Objections Fail

    PITTSBURGH — Leaseholders in a hydraulic fracturing royalty dispute with XTO Energy Inc. on Sept. 2 filed a response brief in Pennsylvania federal court arguing that their claim is “well-founded and common issues of law and fact predominate,” therefore the court should overrule XTO’s objections to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation that calls for granting the plaintiffs’ motion for partial class action certification.

  • September 03, 2025

    Energy Company Says Royalty Dispute Was Properly Dismissed Based On State Statute

    ST. LOUIS — An energy company has filed a response brief in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that a lower court properly granted summary judgment against plaintiffs in a hydraulic fracturing royalty dispute based on the language of an Arkansas statute the energy company says “expressly discharges operators and working interest owners from any lease obligations” related to the first 1/8 of the amount of gas produced and sold from Arkansas integrated drilling units.

  • September 03, 2025

    Fracking Operator Says Royalty Dispute Fails Because Plaintiffs Lack Evidence

    PITTSBURGH — A hydraulic fracturing operator on Sept. 2 filed a reply brief in Pennsylvania federal court arguing that a royalty dispute brought by leaseholders should be dismissed because the plaintiffs cannot cite any evidence that the post-production expenses the fracking company incurs and then charges to the plaintiffs are unreasonable or were incurred in bad faith.

  • September 02, 2025

    Panel: Federal Agency’s Offshore Fracking Plan Meets Standards Set By Law

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 29 ruled that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) satisfied the requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) when it drafted a program for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and, therefore, environmental groups’ challenge to the offshore leasing program in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) failed.

  • September 02, 2025

    Groups: Bid To Nix Offshore Fracking Case ‘Flies In The Face’ Of Law

    LOS ANGELES — Environmental groups have filed a brief in California federal court opposing a hydraulic fracturing operator’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is in violation of federal law related to the fracking company’s offshore drilling permit.  The groups say the fracking company’s argument in favor of dismissal “flies in the face of the plain language” of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).

  • August 22, 2025

    Agent Ordered To Comply With Discovery Request In Mineral Rights Dispute

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal magistrate judge in Ohio has ordered an agent with a company that owns land that is the subject of a mineral rights dispute to respond to discovery requests made by a drilling operator, ruling that many of the requested communications between the agent and his wife are not protected by Ohio’s marital communications privilege.

  • August 21, 2025

    County: Oil Company’s Appeal Must Be Nixed In Permit Row Involving Local Aquifers

    LOS ANGELES — A county government in California on Aug. 20 filed a motion to dismiss an appeal in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that an oil company that is challenging a default judgment against it that nullified the company’s zoning clearance to conduct drilling operations failed to file an appropriate motion in the lower court to set aside the default judgment in a dispute that involves contamination of local aquifers.

  • August 19, 2025

    Judge: Plaintiffs Failed To Show Government Breached Its Duty In Royalty Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled that Native Americans who have been engaged in a long-running land dispute with the U.S. government regarding alleged mismanagement of oil and natural gas resources in the Bakken Shale formation failed to show that the government breached its fiduciary duty in its payment of royalties.

  • August 11, 2025

    Energy Company Asks Texas High Court To Deny Review In Fracking Contract Dispute

    AUSTIN, Texas — An energy company has filed a brief in the Texas Supreme Court opposing a petition to review a ruling in a dispute over a joint operating agreement (JOA) related to hydraulic fracturing wells, arguing that the JOA in question empowers any party to propose a drilling operation and have that operation performed, but the petition for review asks the Supreme Court to “sanction a scheme to defeat this contractual right.”

  • August 11, 2025

    29 Members Of Congress Send Letter To DOI Urging It To Keep The Arctic Protected

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Twenty-nine members of the U.S. Congress have sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and the acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), urging the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) not to rescind the BLM’s 2024 rule that governs the protection of the National Petroleum Reserve-A (NPR-A), saying that repealing the rule “would not only be inconsistent with the law but would risk irreversible harm to the Western Arctic’s climate, wildlife, and communities.”

  • August 08, 2025

    Group Seeks To Uphold Fracking Ban In Delaware River Basin Amid Drilling Talks

    WEST TRENTON, N.J. — The Delaware River Frack Ban Coalition (DRFBC) is attempting to gain support for its effort to uphold the ban on hydraulic fracturing that is currently in place for the Delaware River Basin (DRB) by asking individuals to sign a pledge to protect the basin.

  • August 08, 2025

    Environmental Groups Challenge EPA’s Move To Delay Implementing Methane Standards

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Environmental advocacy groups have sued U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and the EPA in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, challenging the EPA’s final action that extended deadlines for performance standards regarding methane that is produced during hydraulic fracturing operations.

  • August 07, 2025

    Report On National Petroleum Reserve Raises Concerns About Fracking In The Arctic

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Wilderness Society (TWS) on Aug. 7 released a report assessing the ecological and cultural values within the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A), finding that the NPR-A, which is slated for hydraulic fracturing development under President Donald J. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, “may be one of North America’s critical climate refugia for wildlife in the future.”

  • August 07, 2025

    Minors Say Fracking Company’s ‘Negligent And Reckless’ Operations Caused Injuries

    PITTSBURGH — A group of minors on Aug. 6 sued a hydraulic fracturing operator in Pennsylvania federal court contending it is liable for damages for its “negligent and reckless operations of a natural gas compressor station, natural gas wells, and their appurtenances.”

  • August 06, 2025

    Agency: Rig Decommissioning Case Tries To ‘Fit Square Peg Into A Round Hole’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and other federal energy officials have filed a summary judgment reply brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the environmental group that is asserting a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for the defendants’ alleged failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related to the decommissioning of offshore hydraulic fracturing rigs is “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole” and is attempting to “use this lawsuit as a vehicle to challenge the general state of idle oil and gas infrastructure” in the Gulf of Mexico.

  • August 05, 2025

    Magistrate: Fracking Royalty Case Warrants Partial Grant Of Class Certification

    PITTSBURGH — A federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania on Aug. 4 issued a report in which he recommended that leaseholders’ motion for class certification in their case against hydraulic fracturing operators for unpaid royalties be granted in part and denied in part, saying the plaintiffs have shown that the class is ascertainable but have not presented evidence to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2).

  • August 05, 2025

    Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over Continental Shelf Law, Trump Administration Says

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — The Trump administration on Aug. 4 filed a brief in Louisiana federal court arguing that it lacks jurisdiction over claims brought by states and energy producers regarding the constitutionality of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and contending that if former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s withdrawals of certain areas for offshore hydraulic fracturing are found to be permanent, they exceeded his authority under OCSLA.

  • July 31, 2025

    Panel Says Groups Fail To Link Federal Fracking Permits To Alleged Harm

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a case brought by environmental groups against the U.S. government in a dispute over federal fracking permits in New Mexico’s Permian Basin and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, ruling that the groups failed to sufficiently link the harm they alleged to the “discrete agency actions” they sought to reverse.

  • July 22, 2025

    Mineral Rights Owners Seek Approval Of Class Settlement Worth More Than $22.08M

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mineral rights holders on July 21 filed an unopposed motion in Ohio federal court for preliminary approval of a class action settlement in a long-running and complex dispute with a drilling company and hydraulic fracturing operators over royalty payments, proposing a settlement fund worth $22,086,769.31.

  • July 22, 2025

    Interior Secretary, Others Say Offshore Drilling Opponents Fail To State Claim

    LOS ANGELES — Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and others on July 21 filed an answer in California federal court denying claims brought by environmental advocacy groups that allege that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is in violation of federal law related to offshore drilling and arguing that the plaintiffs fail to state a claim for which relief can be granted.