By Don R. White, Attorney at Law
For a culture that depends so heavily on oil and gas, it can be easy to forget just how prevalent these resources are in our day-to-day lives. Due to this dependence, oil and gas law encompasses many complicated legal policies, procedures and agreements.
What Is Oil and Gas Law?
Oil and gas law is the branch of law concerning procurement and ownership rights of oil and gas. This includes minerals that are still undiscovered or untouched under the surface, as well as the ownership of oil and gas after its extraction. In most parts of the world, national governments regulate gas and oil laws. However, in the United States, the extraction of oil and gas is typically regulated by individual states, although federal and constitutional laws apply as well. The rights of oil and gas may be owned by:
- Individuals
- Native American tribes
- Corporations
- Local, state or federal government
Whoever owns the surface land above the extracted, or non-extracted oil and gas, may not own the minerals. For energy companies to procure these private rights, they must enter into various legal agreements with the mineral owners, which is a somewhat technical and complicated process.
What Do Oil and Gas Attorneys Do?
Because gas and oil industries are known for being lucrative, energy exploration and production companies will jump at the opportunity to obtain land with oil. However, there are many facets of oil and gas law to follow in order to make a legal purchase or transfer of property and rights. Disputes often arise pertaining to these land rights, leases, agreements and other areas of oil and gas law. This is where oil and gas attorneys most often come into play. If gas and oil companies break any exploration, extraction, transportation or land use agreements, the rights holders may lose opportunities to receive restitution. To protect property rights and ensure there is no breach in contracts or agreements, rights holders often seek the guidance from experienced oil and gas attorneys.
Many oil and gas attorneys provide guidance and counsel for issues such as:
- Oil, gas and land title examination
- Drilling agreement disputes
- Environmental issues
- Surface rights
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Drilling pipeline permits
- Pipeline easement concerns
Contact Our Oil and Gas Lawyers Today
Our lawyers’ outstanding reputations and commitment to integrity and thoroughness make Hayes, Berry, White & Vanzant your strongest allies when it comes to oil and gas law disputes. Call us at (940) 387-3518, or contact us here to discover how we can help your case.
