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Mealey's Fracking

  • April 16, 2026

    Citing National Security Concerns, Trump Issues International Pipeline Permits

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump, citing national security reasons, issued nine memoranda on April 15 granting permits that authorize Enbridge Inc., the owner of multiple pipelines, to “construct, connect, operate and maintain” pipelines for the transport of oil and petroleum products at the international border between the United States and Canada in North Dakota and Michigan.

  • April 13, 2026

    Mineral Rights Holders: Court Erred In Not Applying Lease Clause In Well Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — A mineral rights holding company has filed an opening appeal brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that a lower court erred when it ruled that a Pugh clause in a mineral lease did not apply to the compulsory unitization of wells because the Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that any unqualified reference to “pooled unit or units” includes voluntary and compulsory units.

  • April 13, 2026

    Fracking Company: Landfill Operator’s Actions Violate Surface Use Contract

    GREELEY, Colo. — A hydraulic fracturing company has sued in Colorado state court two companies that operate a landfill, arguing that they are in violation of agreements reached between the parties because they have begun the process of annexing a portion of the land covered by the agreements to a nearby town and they have applied to rezone the property.

  • April 10, 2026

    Groups, California Say Orders Restarting Santa Ynez Pipelines Violate Federal Law

    SAN FRANCISCO — Environmental groups and the state of California have filed opening briefs in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that orders issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that restarted operation of the Las Flores Pipelines violate several federal laws and exceeded the agency’s authority.

  • April 09, 2026

    Agency Touts Federal Lease Sales In 11 States, National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on April 8 announced that it generated $592.7 million in total receipts from oil and gas sales held in the first quarter of 2026, involving 246 parcels for lease on 225,277 acres across 11 states, and another 187 parcels in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).

  • April 08, 2026

    Judge Denies Government’s Bid To Prevent California From Limiting Oil Development

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California has denied the U.S. government’s attempt to prevent the state of California from enforcing a law that restricts oil and gas drilling, ruling that the government did not meet its burden of showing that it is likely to establish that the law in question actually conflicts with federal law.

  • April 07, 2026

    Groups: ‘God Squad’s’ Basis For Overriding Endangered Species Act Was ‘Arbitrary’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Environmental advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit in District of Columbia federal court against the Endangered Species Committee (ESC), known as the “God Squad,” alleging that its decision to exempt all oil and gas production activities in the Gulf of Mexico from complying with the Endangered Species Act was “founded entirely on an arbitrary National Security Finding” that was issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

  • April 01, 2026

    ‘God Squad’: Gulf Of Mexico Oil Drilling Exempt From Endangered Species Act Rules

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — After not meeting for more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Committee (ESC), also known as the “God Squad,” on March 31 voted unanimously to exempt all oil and gas production activities in the Gulf of Mexico from requirements to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued findings of fact on March 13 stating that oil production in the region is a matter of national security.

  • March 30, 2026

    Colorado County: Fracking Railroad Project Approvals In Uinta Basin Are ‘Unlawful’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Colorado county has filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in District of Columbia federal court against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and an affiliated agency, challenging what it calls “unlawful actions” related to their authorizations of an amended right of way that would allow trains carrying oil obtained by hydraulic fracturing in the Uinta Basin in Utah to travel through the county.

  • March 30, 2026

    High Court Refuses To Hear Michigan Governor’s Appeal Related To Gas Pipeline

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 30 refused to hear Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s appeal of a federal appellate court decision that rejected the state’s claim to sovereign immunity that it asserted when pipeline companies sued it for terminating an easement that is required to operate an oil and gas pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.

  • March 24, 2026

    California: Federal Order Restarting Pipeline Is ‘A Breathtaking Power Grab’

    SAN FRANCISCO — California on March 23 sued Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in California federal court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that they have engaged in “a breathtaking power grab” by ordering Sable Offshore Corp. to resume operating the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) and the Santa Ynez Pipeline System (SYPS) under the Defense Production Act (DPA).

  • March 24, 2026

    Plaintiffs Appeal Ruling That Dismissed Royalty Claims In Long-Running Case

    PITTSBURGH — Plaintiffs in a long-running hydraulic fracturing royalty dispute have filed a notice that they are appealing an order by a Pennsylvania federal judge adopting a magistrate judge’s report and granting a fracking company’s motion for summary judgment dismissal of the claims.  The order on appeal also overruled the plaintiffs’ objections to the magistrate judge’s report.

  • March 23, 2026

    3rd Circuit Vacates Injunction Order, Says Jurisdiction Lacking In Fracking Case

    PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued a nonprecedential per curiam opinion vacating an order of a district court, which had denied a motion for a preliminary injunction sought by residents in a dispute with hydraulic fracturing companies related to alleged contamination of their drinking water. The Third Circuit panel ruled that without a facial showing of jurisdiction pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), it was not error for the district court to deny the injunction motion.

  • March 23, 2026

    Judge Orders Fraud Defendant To File Answer Complying With Rules Of Procedure

    TYLER, Texas — A federal magistrate judge ordered a defendant in a case brought by a receiver for multiple entities in a fraud lawsuit related to nonexistent hydraulic fracturing technology to file an answer to the amended complaint that complies with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, after the receiver moved to strike the defendant’s initial answer for a lack of good faith.

  • March 18, 2026

    Pipeline Company Told To Resume Operations Based On Trump’s Energy Order

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has directed Sable Offshore Corp. to resume operating the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) and the Santa Ynez Pipeline System (SYPS) in response to a recent executive order (EO) issued by President Donald J. Trump that delegates authority to Wright and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick under the Defense Production Act (DPA), allowing them to take action in keeping with Trump’s prior EO “Declaring a National Energy Emergency.”

  • March 09, 2026

    Groups Stipulate To Dismissal Of Case About Drilling In National Petroleum Reserve

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Native American and environmental groups on March 6 filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal in Alaska federal court ending their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) related to the groups’ opposition to the DOI’s plans to conduct hydraulic fracturing operations in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA).

  • March 09, 2026

    Judge Says BLM Violated NEPA When It Approved Permits For Wyoming Project

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia has issued a decision on multiple motions in a long-running dispute over federal permits for hydraulic fracturing, ruling that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it approved permits for an oil and gas development project in Wyoming because the agency did not “adequately conduct an analysis of reasonable alternatives.”  In an order accompanying the opinion, the judge directed the clerk to close the case.

  • March 03, 2026

    Groups Revive Case Against Federal Agencies Alleging Arctic Fracking Violations

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Native American and environmental advocacy groups on March 2 filed a third amended complaint against federal agencies and local proponents of hydraulic fracturing in Alaska federal court, reviving a stayed case for declaratory and injunctive relief related to “unlawful oil and gas leasing programs” for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).  The third amended complaint was filed by mutual agreement among the parties to add claims under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

  • March 03, 2026

    Citing ‘Near Certain Harm’ If Pipeline Were Shut Down, Judge Stays Injunction

    MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge in Wisconsin stayed an injunction that was set to take effect in June, which would have shut down operation of a pipeline known as Line 5 that runs across Native American lands.  The judge said that the initial threat of “catastrophic rupture” that prompted the injunction “has thankfully been reduced” and that the tribe’s concerns do not outweigh the “near certain harm to local, state, national and international economies that would occur with an abrupt shutdown.”

  • February 27, 2026

    Senator Sets In Motion Congressional Review Of National Monument Protections

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Republican senator from Utah has introduced into the congressional record an opinion issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) that has determined that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2025 resource management plan (RMP) for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is reviewable under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).  The move is a step toward revoking the RMP and possibly opening the area for hydraulic fracturing.

  • February 26, 2026

    Companies Ask High Court To Deny Petition In 2nd Michigan Pipeline Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a second case involving the dispute between the state of Michigan and the owners of an oil and gas pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, the pipeline owners have filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should deny review of a petition filed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because the Sixth Circuit correctly rejected the state’s sovereign immunity claim that it asserted when the pipeline companies sued the state for terminating an easement that is required to operate the pipeline.

  • February 25, 2026

    Attorneys Debate Federal Court Removal Deadline In Pipeline Case At Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 heard oral arguments in a case in which a pipeline company’s attorney argued that “federal courts retain their traditional equitable authority to excuse the 30-day removal deadline” and the Michigan solicitor general contended that the company seeks “an atextual escape hatch” with respect to federal removal of the attorney general’s state court lawsuit that sought to shut down operation of the company’s oil and gas pipeline on grounds that it posed a “risk of release.”

  • February 25, 2026

    Panel Affirms Jury Verdict In Favor Of Energy Company In Fracking Royalty Dispute

    TYLER, Texas — A state appellate court panel in Texas has affirmed a trial court verdict in a hydraulic fracturing royalty dispute, saying that it could not conclude that the jury’s ruling in favor of an energy company with regard to deductions in royalty payments to landowners was “against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.” The panel also held that, in light of the evidence, the jury could conclude that the energy company did not “fail to provide” the landowners with the royalty payment information to which they were entitled.

  • February 23, 2026

    Groups: Federal Plan To Drill In National Petroleum Reserve Is ‘Capricious’

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Native American groups sued the secretary of the Interior and two federal agencies in Alaska federal court, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for their decision to adopt the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2025 Integrated Activity Plan (IAP), which adopted the BLM’s 2020 IAP that opened more than 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A).  The groups say the 2025 IAP violates multiple federal laws because it is “arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion.”

  • February 23, 2026

    High Court Won’t Review Italian Company’s Claims Over Improper Preclusion

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an Italian energy company that argued that a New York state court improperly found that it was precluded from bringing claims in litigation due to the res judicata effect of an earlier arbitration award in a separate dispute between its subsidiary and affiliates of another energy company relating to the parties’ agreement for the handling and sale of liquid natural gas (LNG).