We are now in the age of oil and gas production from shale, horizontal well production, fracing and multi-zone fracing. And the regulatory agencies, especially the Railroad Commission of Texas (“RCT”), are scampering to stay up with developments and promote full efficient production while protecting, the best it can, the rights among the relevant parties.
The two co-authors of this paper will try to give some procedures and strategies to stay abreast or ahead of regulatory agency developments. Needless to say, this paper and the talk will not cover all to know of regulatory law and regulations, but it will try to cover the ones most important for the future. Lay has been practicing a wide range of oil and gas law for 40-plus years, including about 35-years in regulatory oil and gas law; Forbis is a research specialist in oil and gas regulatory matters and also publishes a newsletter, the Texas Drilling Observer. Lay’s function is primarily to outline current case law and legal history; Forbis’ job is to develop useful information about RCT policies and to assess meanings of those policies.