The Texas Supreme Court recently provided new guidance in interpreting force majeure language in an oil and gas drilling dispute. In Point Energy Partners Permian, LLC v. MRC Permian Company, the court held that the oil and gas lessee’s scheduling error linked to a well collapse 60 miles from the lease site at issue
In Texas, many master service agreements (MSAs) related to the oil and gas industry typically contain provisions related to mandatory minimum insurance coverage and indemnity obligations. The Texas Supreme Court recently held the terms of an MSA may not be read into an insurance policy unless there is a “clear-manifestation” in the insurance policy the
Earlier this week we saw the court in Patriot Construction use the waiver doctrine to excuse a subcontractor’s failure to strictly comply with the documentation requirements of the contract. As a litigant in Illinois federal court found out last week, it doesn’t always work out that way. Boldt v. Black & Veatch involves the 60-turbine
On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed into law H.R. 6256, known as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The act is intended to stem the importation of goods made with forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (the “Xinjiang Region”) into the United States. The act
In Texas, most Master Service Agreements related to the oil and gas industry provide indemnities based on who or what was injured rather than who caused the injury. For example, the standard knock-for-knock indemnity will provide that an operator will defend and indemnify the contractor for injury to the operator’s employees even if the injury
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration, one of the leading international arbitral institutions, has released revised Rules of Arbitration to take effect in January 2021. The 2021 ICC Rules contain some important updates, especially for the construction and energy sector, which constitutes approximately 40% of the ICC’s overall caseload. The 2021
One of the challenges of renewable energy development is managing the permitting process. Understanding how to navigate state and local laws can be integral to a developer’s permitting success, especially where a community may be hostile to the prospective power project. The Court of Appeals of Minnesota underlined this point in its recent decision in
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed many of our personal and professional lives. This includes working from home and increased communication by email. During this time, many business decisions will be made through email, including entering into contracts. Owners, developers, and contractors should be aware of the pitfalls associated with negotiating contracts by email. While released
Over the weekend, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued updated guidance expounding on its classification of workers who are essential to the nation’s critical infrastructure viability during the COVID-19 crisis. As discussed in our previous alert and blog post, CISA has identified 16 key infrastructure sectors that should continue operations to protect
NASA announced on March 17, 2020, that, “[e]ffective immediately, all [NASA] employees and contractors will move to mandatory telework until further notice” as a result of the COVID-19 (the coronavirus) pandemic, and that only “[m]ission-essential personnel” will be “granted access onsite.” In light of this development, government contractors performing work under NASA contracts that