Jurors will be deliberating soon on whether fraud was committed in a oil and gas royalty lawsuit near Houston, Texas. The lawsuit was filed by M&M and E.L.Resources against D.S.T.J. Corporation with a claim of not receiving seven months of royalties on a well that was later closed down. Twenty-one leases stated that D.S.T.J. were to pay a 5% royalty to the plaintiffs in which 4 were located in an area owned by residents of Blackman Tract in Jefferson County. Court papers state that D.S.T.J. was drilling at the well which was functioning from Oct. third until it was shut down in March. The plaintiffs claim that D.S.T.J. didn't pay any royalties during the operations of the wells at that time. It's stated in the lawsuit that the non-payment constitutes an obligational default of the contract. D.S.T.J. responded with a counter suit alleging that the plaintiffs lease provisions were improper, and the plaintiffs were involved in shady dealings in the agreement which was effective in preventing them from further production of the tract. So D.S.T.J. had to close production of the wells due to the plaintiffs including fraudulent provisions in the lease. The jury will decide if the plaintiffs fraud was the reason the well was closed or will D.S.T.J. pay royalties for the production time for the seven months the well was in operation. Royalties can be denied in a few ways. Oil and gas producers reporting lower levels than they produce in order to circumvent paying the royalties. Inflating production expenses is another way they scheme to avoid paying royalties. Texas landowners will lease several acres and don't have many options when royalties are denied to them that they should rightfully be receiving. There is no one authority in Texas for ensuring the landowner that they will receive their royalties. And because of that, landowners have no recourse when drilling companies fail to pay royalties. So the only option is to file a lawsuit through a Houston Oil and Gas Lawyer or a Houston Fraud Lawyer to recover the royalties that are rightfully theirs.
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Oil and Gas Dispute
Gov. Bill Ritter was quite angry as he confronted the oil and gas industry for saying a proposed ballot initiative to increase severance tax revenues, would cause Coloradans utility bills to increase, as well as higher pump prices, and turn local governments against energy firms. Ritter was speaking to the Rocky Mountain News editorial board affirming the initiative, which calls for the removal of an ad valorem tax credit which now allows energy companies to cut their state severance tax by a significant amount. At an event later that day, Ritter told the attendies the measure has garnered more than 137,000 signatures - nearly double the 76,000 needed to get on the ballot in November. If passed it will raise about $321 million a year - most of the money going to scholarships.
Oil Price History and Analysis
Crude oil prices behave much as any other commodity with wide price swings in times of shortage or oversupply. The crude oil price cycle may extend over several years responding to changes in demand as well as OPEC and non-OPEC supply.The U.S. petroleum industry's price was heavily regulated through production or price controls throughout much of the twentieth century. In the post World War II era U.S. oil prices at the wellhead averaged $26.64 per barrel adjusted for inflation to 2008 dollars. In the absence of price controls, the U.S. price would have tracked the world price averaging $28.68. Over the same post war period the median for the domestic and the adjusted world price of crude oil was $19.60 in 2008 prices. That means that only fifty percent of the time from 1947 to 2008 have oil prices exceeded $19.60 per barrel
OIL News
Royalty Fraud in the Texas Oil and Gas Drilling Industry .
Jurors will be deliberating soon on whether fraud was committed in a oil and gas royalty lawsuit near Houston, Texas. The lawsuit was filed by M&M and E.L.Resources against D.S.T.J. Corporation with a claim of not receiving seven months of royalties on a well that was later closed down. Twenty-one leases stated that D.S.T.J. were to pay a 5% royalty to the plaintiffs in which 4 were located in an area owned by residents of Blackman Tract in Jefferson County. Court papers state that D.S.T.J. was drilling at the well which was functioning from Oct. third until it was shut down in March OIL .
Oil Companies Eye Iraq's Multibillion-Barrel
As multinational military forces have left Iraq, international petroleum companies have eagerly descended - seduced by the long-term potential of vast oil reserves off-limits to foreigners for decades. Yet lingering violence, legal questions and political uncertainty make doing business in this country a gamble. In the first international oil auction held last June, widely seen as a failure, the Iraqi government awarded a firm contract to only a consortium of British Petroleum and the China National Petroleum Co. to further develop the Rumaila field over 20 years. Iraq recently forged an initial agreement with a group comprising Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell to develop the West Qurna field, and one with an ENI-led consortium of Occidental Petroleum and Korea Gas for the Zubair oil field. ...
