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Mealey's Fracking

  • November 07, 2025

    Fracking Operator: Landowners Lack Evidence Of Trespass, 3rd Circuit Appeal Fails

    PHILADELPHIA — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a response brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that an appeal by landowners who contend that the fracking company trespassed by injecting proppants and fracking fluids beneath their property to facilitate the extraction of natural gas fails for lack of evidence.

  • November 07, 2025

    Texas Panel Says Mineral Rights Contract Not Breached In Fracking Dispute

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas appellate court panel on Nov. 6 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a hydraulic fracturing operator in an oil and gas dispute, saying that it was “not persuaded” by a mineral rights company’s understanding of the contract the parties entered into. The panel said that the evidence “conclusively establishes that the parties expressly agreed to fix the drilling unit of each well” to a particular tract of land such that the joint operating agreement (JOA) had not been breached.

  • November 07, 2025

    Legislators Ask Secretary Burgum To Pause Plan For Chaco Canyon Mineral Withdrawal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — New Mexico’s federal representatives in Congress on Nov. 6 sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum “to express extreme disappointment” about the actions taken by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which formally initiated the process of revoking a public land order (PLO) that protects a 10-mile buffer around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CCNHP).  The legislators say Burgum has a “legal and moral responsibility” to Native American tribes to engage in “robust Tribal consultation and community outreach” before taking any action on the existing mineral withdrawal around CCNHP.

  • November 06, 2025

    Fracking Operator Says Its Expert’s Opinions Are Based On Reliable Principles

    AUSTIN, Texas — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a brief in Texas federal court arguing that it should deny a motion to limit its expert’s testimony in a royalty dispute because her opinions are based on a methodology that is consistent with the reliable principles used throughout the natural gas liquids (NGL) accounting industry.

  • November 06, 2025

    Couple Seeks Damages For A Plethora Of Injuries From Explosion At Fracking Site

    MINOT, N.D. — A couple has filed an amended complaint in North Dakota federal court seeking compensatory and punitive damages for a traumatic brain injury and other ailments suffered by the husband, who was injured when storage tanks at a hydraulic fracturing site exploded.

  • November 05, 2025

    Judge OKs $167.5M Settlement In Fracking Securities Saga

    PITTSBURGH — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Nov. 4 granted final approval to a $167.5 million class action settlement in a long-running securities fraud case brought by investors who contended that a hydraulic fracturing operator had made false statements about its potential capacity for oil and gas production.

  • November 04, 2025

    Grantors In Mineral Rights Case Reserved A Floating Interest, Texas Panel Says

    EL PASO, Texas — In a complex mineral rights dispute, a Texas state appellate panel has ruled that a trial court erred in declaring that a deed’s grantors reserved a nonparticipating royalty interest in oil and gas production but said the lower court did not err when it declared that those same parties each reserved a 1/4 floating interest.

  • October 31, 2025

    Ohio Bill Would Prohibit Fracking Under Lake Erie, State Parks

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — In response to unsuccessful attempts to prevent hydraulic fracturing in state parks, lawmakers in Ohio have introduced legislation that would prohibit extracting oil or gas from under Lake Erie or a state park.

  • October 28, 2025

    Groups Broaden Case Against Trump Over Reopening Of Offshore Areas For Fracking

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Environmental groups that are challenging President Donald J. Trump’s executive order that reopened areas of the outer continental shelf (OCS) for hydraulic fracturing have filed a second amended and supplemental complaint in Alaska federal court,  broadening the case from a narrow challenge to Trump’s January rescission of former President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the OCS into an attack on Trump’s “unlawful attempt to undo permanent protections for certain areas” of the OCS and other regions that were instituted by former President Barack Obama.

  • October 24, 2025

    Interior Department Reopens Arctic To Fracking, Acting On Trump’s Executive Order

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), through the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), on Oct. 23 released a new record of decision (ROD) adopting an oil and gas leasing program that officially opens roughly 1,563,500 acres in the Coastal Plain of Alaska for hydraulic fracturing in keeping with the executive order titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” issued by President Donald J. Trump on the first day of his second term. Plans for oil and gas extraction in that region of Alaska have been the subject of much dispute and litigation across multiple presidential administrations.

  • October 24, 2025

    Judge Approves Distribution Plan For $40M Settlement In Fracking Securities Case

    HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas has approved the distribution plan for a $40 million all-cash payment to settle claims brought by shareholders against a hydraulic fracturing operator and three of its senior executives, ruling that the process of reviewing claims has been completed.

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge: Drilling Permits Do Not Foreclose Tort Claims Against Fracking Operators

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal magistrate judge in Ohio denied a motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in a dispute over the boundaries of the shale formation from which the fracking companies are extracting natural gas using a procedure called horizontal drilling, ruling that the fracking operators have not carried their burden to demonstrate that the existence of drilling permits from the state of Ohio forecloses the plaintiff’s tort claims.

  • October 21, 2025

    Judge Says Class Certification Proper In Abandoned Wells, Tainted Water Case

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado has granted plaintiffs class certification in their lawsuit over abandoned hydraulic fracturing wells that the plaintiffs contend pose a threat to human health and have the potential to contaminate groundwater, ruling that class certification is proper under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rules 23(b)(2) and 23(b)(3) because the plaintiffs met all of the requirements for certification.

  • October 16, 2025

    Mont. High Court: Pa. Law Applies To Reporter’s Subpoenaed Records On Tainted Water

    HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on Oct. 15 ruled that a lower court erred when it found that Montana’s Media Confidentiality Act (MMCA) applied to a reporter’s records that were the subject of a subpoena in litigation brought by a hydraulic fracturing company against a media outlet related to a news story about groundwater contamination from fracking operations that affected a family in Pennsylvania.  The high court reversed and remanded the matter, ruling that the lower court “must apply the Pennsylvania Shield Law and the qualified reporter’s privilege to the subpoena and determine whether all or some of the documents sought are privileged under Pennsylvania law.”

  • October 10, 2025

    California Board Sues Offshore Fracking Operator For Violations Of Water Code

    SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The California Regional Water Quality Control Board has sued Sable Offshore Corp. in state court seeking civil liabilities and injunctive relief for allegedly intentionally ignoring its obligations under the California Water Code to apply to the board for permits before proposing to discharge waste that could affect the water quality of the state.

  • October 09, 2025

    Leaseholders Say Class Claims Are ‘Well-Established’ In Fracking Royalty Case

    PHILADELPHIA — Hydraulic fracturing leaseholders have filed a brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that it should deny a fracking operator’s appeal of a lower court’s decision that adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation that granted the leaseholders partial class certification in a royalty dispute. The leaseholders say that their breach of contract claim is “well-established.”

  • October 09, 2025

    Judge Gives Final OK To $15M Class Settlement In Pipeline Securities Fraud Case

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Oct. 8 gave final approval to a settlement in a securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline, ruling that the deal, which provides a cash payment of $15 million to the plaintiffs, is “in all respects, fair, reasonable, and adequate.”

  • October 09, 2025

    9th Circuit Denies Bid To Dismiss Appeal Of Ruling On Company’s Right To Drill

    SAN FRANCISCO — The clerk of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued an order denying Ventura County’s motion to dismiss an appeal brought by an oil company seeking review of 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.

  • October 07, 2025

    Federal Leasing Activities To Continue During Shutdown, Agency Plans Indicate

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two agencies that are departments of the U.S. Department of the Interior have posted contingency plans on the DOI website indicating that during the shutdown of the federal government, permitting activities for hydraulic fracturing and other energy related operations on federal land will continue.  The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) plan says that it is doing so “in order to protect human life and federal property and address the National Energy Emergency.” A separate plan was issued by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

  • October 07, 2025

    Judge Stays Challenge To Federal Plan For Fracking In Gulf Of Mexico

    GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge in Maryland on Oct. 7 issued a paperless order as a note on the docket, staying proceedings in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups that challenges the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) issuance of “an arbitrary and capricious programmatic biological opinion governing federally authorized oil and gas activities in the Gulf.” The note indicated that the proceedings were halted as a result of the shutdown of the federal government.

  • October 07, 2025

    Judge Says Biden’s Memos Banning Offshore Fracking Exceeded His Authority

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that memoranda issued during the Biden administration that banned federal oil and gas leasing and development on most of the outer continental shelf (OCS) were “unlawful for exceeding the authority granted” by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).

  • October 02, 2025

    White House Council Issues NEPA Guidance To ‘Expedite’ Permitting Process

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has released guidance and a template for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which aim to “expedite and simplify the permitting process” in keeping with President Donald J. Trump’s executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy.”  The guidance replaces previous guidance and takes into account the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County.

  • October 01, 2025

    $15M Deal In Pipeline Securities Fraud Case Endorsed ‘Overwhelmingly,’ Class Says

    PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 30 filed a reply brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million on grounds that the agreement has been “overwhelmingly endorsed by the Class.”

  • September 26, 2025

    Tribe Appeals Federal Judge’s Denial Of Intervention In Utah Fracking Case

    SALT LAKE CITY — The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation filed a notice of appeal to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a federal judge in Utah ruled that it lacked standing to intervene in a settled case involving Clean Air Act (CAA) violations at a fracking operator’s oil and gas production facilities on the tribe’s reservation.

  • September 25, 2025

    Fracking Outfit: ‘Hit Piece’ By Journalist With ‘Agenda’ Warrants Damages

    PITTSBURGH — A hydraulic fracturing operator has sued a news outlet in Pennsylvania federal court alleging that it is liable for defamation because it published “a hit piece” against the company that was written by “a journalist with a professed agenda” who made “purportedly fact-based statements” that accused the fracking outfit of “such serious business misconduct as alleged fabrication of data and alleged securities market manipulation.”