Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP (LexBlog Mexico)

In December, we wrote about the pros and cons of using independent contractors in the oil and gas industry.  We wanted to provide you with an update on this topic. Recently, there has been increasing scrutiny from federal regulators on the use of independent contractors in the industry.   The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently...

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana recently found, among other things, that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring claims for injunctive relief under the Clean Water Act, CERCLA, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), relating to the explosion and capsizing of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.  See...

We thought you might be interested in the most recent monthly natural gas production data from the Energy Information Administration: Production in the Lower 48 States shows a recovery from the weather-induced drop that was recorded during the first two months of the year. A gain of 3.8 percent or 2.49 billion cubic feet per...

The U.S. Department of Interior – for its moratorium activities related to the Gulf of Mexico – has been held in contempt by Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, according to this article in the Politico.  The order finds, interestingly: [T]hat the government did not simply reimpose...

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a presidential panel has concluded that:  “The Obama administration rejected government scientists’ requests to publicly detail its worst predictions about the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and repeatedly underestimated the size of the spill.” You can finds copies of the four reports here.  From Staff Working Paper No. 3:...

BP issued its internal investigation report on the Gulf spill.  It found, in part:  “No single factor caused the Macondo well tragedy. Rather, a sequence of failures involving a number of different parties led to the explosion and fire which killed 11 people and caused widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.” ...

The NYT is reporting that another oil rig has caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico.  “‘There was no blowout, no explosion, no injuries, no spill,’ said Patrick Cassidy, the director of investor relations for Mariner Energy, a relatively small oil and gas company in Houston with 330 employees and about $1 billion in annual revenues.” ...

We’ve mentioned before that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to have an impact on onshore E&P operations.  Some environmental groups certainly hope so – here is a copy of a joint letter recently sent to Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) by Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council,...

We reported previously on the issuance of a preliminary injunction by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana prohibiting the Interior Department from enforcing a six-month moratorium on all drilling in the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf.  See here.  The NYT is reporting that the Administration’s efforts to reinstate the moratorium...

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction today prohibiting the Interior Department from enforcing a six-month moratorium on all drilling in the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf in water at depths greater than 500 feet.  See Hornbeck Offshore Services, LLC v. Kenneth Lee “Ken” Salazar, Case No. 10-1663 (you...

The natural gas market remains potentially volatile despite the recent calm, according to this article in the WSJ.  “But the domestic nature of the gas market also makes it less liquid than much larger, globally traded commodities such as crude oil and gold, which means gas futures should remain volatile enough to attract financial traders....

We mentioned in a previous post that the E&P industry can expect increased regulatory scrutiny as a result of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  That, of course, isn’t the only reason to anticipate such scrutiny.  This article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is a timely reminder of the environmental issues being raised regarding development of the...

On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig working in the Gulf of Mexico 50 miles offshore Louisiana, that led to the deaths of 11 crew members and possibly one of the worst oil spills in American history.  For a roundup of articles, see here (NYT).  See also here (a...

The NYT is reporting that proposed ozone standards may pose a problem for oil and gas producers in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah.  “While the effects of a tougher health standard would be most immediately felt in smog-choked urban areas, where motor vehicles contribute billions of tons of ozone-forming pollutants annually, the odorless gas...

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a group of New Mexico producers have filed a complaint with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission claiming that the gathering rates charged by Enterprise Field Services LLP are excessive and asking the Commission to set the rates itself.  Interesting.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that BP confirmed the presence of oil in deep water reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico in a western extension of the Kaskida field.  The find may be as much as 3 billion barrels of crude oil equivalent.

The United Nations’s Clean Development Mechanism Panel gave in-principle approval to the first set of emission reduction (or removal) projects in developing countries may earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits that may be traded, sold and used by industrialized countries to meet emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.  This first project involves the deployment of...

Expanded oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico has been approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, according to this article in the NYT.  The measure would allow drilling as close as 45-miles offshore Florida, and is part of a markup of broader energy legislation.

Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil production could peak by 2013 at more than 1.8 million barrels per day, but natural gas production in the Gulf is likely to continue to decline, according to this article from the Houston Chronicle reporting on a recent study issued by MMS.  A copy of the MMS study can be...

According to this article in Globe and Mail, although Henry Groppe may skeptical that worldwide oil consumption in transportation can be significantly reduced over the next decade by using alternative fuels, he believes that fuel substitutions already happening among industrial users will offset declining global oil production. He’s predicting a rebound to average $83-$84 per barrel...