The Pennsylvania supreme court ruling that said “fracking” constituted trespassing of property has a Texas company asking the court to rehear the case.
Southwestern Energy Production Co. lost the original ruling in which the court ruled that hydraulic fracturing for natural gas could create liability when fluids n the fracking process flow onto adjoining properties.
The original ruling on April 2 was made by a two-judge panel in the case Briggs v. Southwestern Energy Production Co. Since then, other energy companies have taken attention because the ruling could lead to restrictions on their operations.
It focuses on what is known as the “rule of capture” which means a driller on one piece of land can extract oil and gas from underneath adjoining properties as long as there is no physical trespassing over the property line.
Since the ruling, at least six energy groups and a Texas professor of oil and gas law have asked to file friend of court briefs in the case.
As Bloomberg Law reports, the ruling could have the potential for some serious economic impact against oil and gas operators.
While fracking is common in Oklahoma, there have yet to be significant court cases regarding trespassing as seen by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. However, Oklahoma has seen numerous legal cases involving damage to nearby vertical well operations caused by adjacent horizontal wells that involved fracking.
“Many states will look to other states for precedent to reach their opinion,” said Anthony J. Carna, chair of McGuireWoods LLP’s oil and gas practice. “The worry is that other states looking at this issue that are facing it for the first time may look to Briggs for precedent.”am.