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Mealey's Fracking

  • May 09, 2025

    Fracking Trade Group Says Groups Lack Standing To Sue Trump Over Alaska Leases

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The American Petroleum Institute (API) has filed an answer as an intervenor defendant in Alaska federal court arguing that the groups that have sued President Donald J. Trump and his administration over his executive order reopening areas of the outer continental shelf for hydraulic fracturing lack standing.

  • May 08, 2025

    Environmental Organizations Sue For FOIA Violations Over Army Corps Energy Records

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two environmental nonprofits want a federal judge to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hand over public records pertaining to regulations and permit applications filed in response to a presidential executive order that aims to address the “inadequate” national supply and capacity of energy and critical minerals, alleging multiple violations of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in a civil complaint.

  • May 08, 2025

    Fracking Company, Agency Say Pennsylvania Well Permits Were Issued Properly

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — A hydraulic fracturing company filed a reply brief with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), arguing that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law in a dispute with an environmental group over well permits on grounds that it has presented “undisputed material facts” that demonstrate that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decision to issue permits was consistent with applicable law.  The same day, the DEP filed a reply brief, arguing that its statement of undisputed material facts should be deemed admitted, resulting in summary judgment.

  • May 07, 2025

    Pennsylvania Group Says Issues Of Material Fact Exist In Fracking Well Permit Case

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — An environmental group has filed a response brief with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) arguing that the EHB should deny a hydraulic fracturing operator’s motion for summary judgment dismissal in a dispute over well permits, arguing that genuine issues of material fact exist that can be evaluated only after a hearing.

  • May 06, 2025

    State Senator Withdraws Bill That Would Have Reversed Maryland’s Fracking Ban

    ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The sponsor of a bill that would have reversed the state of Maryland’s ban on hydraulic fracturing has withdrawn the measure.

  • May 06, 2025

    Groups Say Agencies Violated Law When They Extended Offshore Drilling Leases

    LOS ANGELES — Environmental groups have moved in California federal court seeking and order declaring that Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and agencies under his purview violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and other federal laws when they issued lease extensions for 16 offshore oil and gas leases in the Santa Ynez Unit.

  • May 06, 2025

    Plaintiffs: Class Claims In 4th Amended Complaint Against Fracking Firm Are Valid

    CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Plaintiffs have filed a brief in West Virginia federal court contending that it should deny a motion by a hydraulic fracturing operator seeking to strike class allegations from the fourth amended complaint in the parties’ dispute of mineral rights and allegations of breach of contract.  The plaintiffs insist that contrary to the fracking company’s argument, there is no factual or legal basis to strike class allegations and there is no basis to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).

  • May 06, 2025

    Department Of The Interior To Revise Rule For Offshore Drilling Risk Management

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced plans to revise the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) 2024“Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant ObligationsRule” and proceed with development of a new rule that the DOI says is “consistent with the Trump administration’s 2020 proposed regulatory framework.”

  • May 02, 2025

    Oil Company Says Contract Does Not Allow Fracking Operator To Charge Penalties

    MIDLAND, Texas — Oil and gas company McCully-Chapman Exploration Inc. (MCE) has filed a reply brief in Texas federal court arguing that it is entitled to summary judgment on its declaratory judgment action against another exploration company, Ovintiv USA Inc., in a mineral rights dispute because the joint operating agreement (JOA) the parties entered into defines a limited geographical area and Ovintiv cannot charge MCE penalties for wells drilled outside that specific area.

  • May 02, 2025

    Investment Firm Says Shale Producers Conspired To Fix Oil Prices, Violated Laws

    CHICAGO — An investment firm has filed a putative class action against multiple oil companies in Illinois federal court alleging that they violated antitrust law and the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by engaging in a conspiracy to coordinate, and ultimately constrain, domestic shale oil production through fixing the price of oil and crude oil futures contracts.

  • May 01, 2025

    EPA, Groups Argue Business Organization’s Challenge To Methane Charge Fails

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups, which are intervenor defendants, on April 30 separately filed briefs in Michigan federal court arguing that it should dismiss a case challenging the constitutionality of the methane waste emissions charge levied under the Clean Air Act (CAA).  The EPA says that without any current or imminent implementing action by the EPA, there is no live case or controversy that is necessary to support Article III jurisdiction, and the groups contend that the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution nullifying the charge moots their suit and deprives them of any present injury.

  • April 30, 2025

    10th Circuit Remands EPA’s Approval Of Colorado’s Air Quality Plan For Emissions

    DENVER — A panel of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partially granted and partially denied an environmental group’s petition for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action related to Colorado’s state implementation plan (SIP) for keeping air pollutants below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), remanding the issue to the EPA for further explanation of its decision to approve a revised definition of the term “commencement of operation.” The SIP has particular application with regard to emissions associated with hydraulic fracturing activity.

  • April 25, 2025

    6th Circuit Reverses Drilling Dispute Ruling, Says Injunction Improperly Granted

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed a federal district court and found that it erred when it granted a hydraulic fracturing company’s motion for a preliminary injunction for conversion that allowed it to initiate the drilling process on property held by a land management company while the parties were still litigating a mineral rights dispute.

  • April 24, 2025

    Secretary Of Interior, Citing Emergency, Slashes Permitting Procedures

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on April 23 announced that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) “will implement emergency permitting procedures to accelerate the development of domestic energy resources and critical minerals,” which means that new permitting procedures will be reduced from “a multi-year process down to just 28 days at most.”

  • April 23, 2025

    Groups Say Offshore Arctic Drilling Case From Trump’s 1st Term Is Not Moot

    FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Environmental advocacy groups have filed a reply brief in Alaska federal court arguing that it should set aside a ruling from 2021 in which Judge Sharon L. Gleason dismissed as moot a lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump the groups filed during his first term challenging an executive order that opened areas of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the coast of Alaska for oil and gas drilling.  The groups want the judge to reinstate an order and judgment she issued in 2019 in which she ruled that Trump acted unlawfully when he revoked former President Barack Obama’s permanent withdrawals of portions of Arctic and Atlantic outer continental shelf from future oil leasing.

  • April 22, 2025

    Agency, Trade Group: Case Challenging Emissions Rule For Offshore Drilling Fails

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) filed separate cross-motions for summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that plaintiff environmental groups lack standing to challenge a final rule that updated air quality control and reporting and compliance regulations governing oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf that BOEM issued in 2020 because the final rule “tracks BOEM’s specific statutory authority” under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to safeguard onshore air quality.

  • April 18, 2025

    Executive, Companies Plead Guilty To Negligent Conduct That Caused Worker’s Death

    AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. Department of Justice announced that an oilfield company executive, his company and another company have pleaded guilty to violations of multiple federal laws in relation to the release of hazardous gas from hydraulic fracturing drilling operations that resulted in the deaths of an employee and his wife. The executive will serve five months in prison and the companies will pay a total $1.4 million in fines.

  • April 15, 2025

    Shale Antitrust Plaintiffs Say Motion To Dismiss Fails Pursuant To Clayton Act

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The plaintiffs in antitrust multidistrict litigation related to shale oil have filed a response brief in New Mexico federal court arguing that a motion to dismiss filed by defendant Pioneer Natural Resources Co. fails because the Clayton Act grants the court jurisdictional authority over Pioneer.

  • April 15, 2025

    Groups Say Agency Is Violating Law By Not Terminating Fracking Leases In Colorado

    DENVER — Environmental advocacy groups have sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) challenging the agency’s denial of three petitions in which the groups asked the BLM to acknowledge that 22 federal oil and gas leases in Colorado have terminated or expired, arguing that the BLM’s denial keeps the lands subject to the threat of oil and gas drilling and prevents BLM and the U.S. Forest Service from managing them for other uses such as conservation, wildlife habitat and recreation.

  • April 15, 2025

    Groups Say Offshore Fracking Case Is Moot Based On Orders Issued By Trump

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — Environmental groups on April 14 filed a brief in Louisiana federal court arguing that a case brought by states and hydraulic fracturing industry groups challenging orders issued by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that withdrew offshore waters from oil and gas leasing should be dismissed as moot because the controversy is no longer live in light of executive orders issued by President Donald J. Trump that revoke Biden’s orders.

  • April 07, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Surface Use Dispute Between Landowners And Fracking Operator

    WHEELING, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia has dismissed a case a case brought by a couple who contended that a hydraulic fracturing company committed fraud when it withheld information about a surface use agreement that exists related to property that the couple bought, ruling that the couple did not allege that the surface use agreement was invalid or unenforceable and, therefore, their claim failed.

  • April 04, 2025

    Fracking Operator: Permit Appeal Fails, Group’s Claims Are ‘Entirely Unsupported’

    HARRISBURG, Pa — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a brief with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, arguing that it should grant summary judgment dismissal of an appeal brought by an environmental group that challenges seven well permits issued for a well pad in West Moreland County, Pa., on grounds that the groups’ claims are “entirely unsupported by the evidence of the record.”

  • April 04, 2025

    Judge Denies EPA’s Bid For Stay Of Methane Tax Case, Allows Intervention

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan has denied a motion by the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeking to stay a case in which a business advocacy group and an oil and gas association challenge the constitutionality of the methane waste emissions charge levied under the Clean Air Act (CAA), ruling that recent legislation disapproving the EPA’s rule “would appear to invoke well-worn principles of justiciability, particularly that of mootness.”  Meanwhile, the judge granted environmental groups permission to intervene.

  • April 03, 2025

    6th Circuit Says Fracking Operator Underpaid Royalties, Affirms $10M Award

    CINCINNATI — A panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 2 affirmed a lower court’s ruling that awarded royalty owners $10 million against a hydraulic fracturing operator for the underpayment of royalties, ruling that, under the contract, the fracking company cannot deduct the costs of “processing” and “fractionation” from the royalties they pay landowners.

  • April 03, 2025

    Interior Secretary Must Require Offshore Driller To Update Plans, Groups Say

    LOS ANGELES — Environmental advocacy groups on April 2 sued Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and others in California federal court alleging that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is in violation of federal law because it has failed to require an offshore drilling company to update its development and production plans for a drilling unit on which it plans to resume operations following an equipment rupture in 2015.