Oil and natural gas attorneys in the Lone Star State are collectively “on edge” waiting for the Texas Supreme Court to respond to a request from Chesapeake Energy Corp. asking for a rehearing on a high-profile royalty payment case.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled against the Oklahoma City-based energy company and in favor of landowners in a June 12 opinion handed down in the Hyder v. Chesapeake case.
In a 5-to-4 decision, the Texas Supreme Court sided with the Hyder family of Fort Worth by upholding their lease, which stated Chesapeake would bear all post-production costs for natural gas extracted from the family’s land.
Chesapeake asserts that the family should bear its share of the costs and filed a motion for rehearing on Aug. 5 where the company argued that the court misread the contract’s single overriding-royalty provision.
