Texas ranchers blocked well operators from 1,604 acres in 2004; court lets oil firm cross property (Image Credit: McFaddin Ranch)
A dispute over access to a well
The well sits close to the San Antonio River, raising concerns about leaving it unplugged, according to the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals’ October 1 opinion. Those payments totalled more than $120,000 between 1996 and June 2015, according to testimony cited by the appeals court. The dispute eventually moved into court after Allegiant Resources became the operator of the Remora Oil Unit in 2021. He estimated the company’s potential losses at about $50 million. The Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals sided with Allegiant on October 1, affirming the trial court’s ruling.
Lawson said the company could face serious consequences if it could not complete the required work, according to the court’s opinion. A long-running dispute over access to a South Texas ranch has ended with a Texas appeals court allowing an oil company to cross private property to reach an inactive well. The dispute involves the McFaddin Ranch and Allegiant Resources LLC, which sought access to a well that had been shut in for years. The court ultimately affirmed the trial court’s decision, upholding Allegiant’s limited right to enter the property for plugging and related work. The case centres on the Remora Oil Unit, an oil and gas operation located on property known as the Wright Land. For years, the arrangement was relatively straightforward. Allegiant’s predecessors used a road across the ranch and made payments for access. These included potential action by the Texas Railroad Commission and significant financial losses. The well had also been inactive for more than a decade, meaning Allegiant needed to remove surface equipment as part of the plugging process. The appeals court concluded that Allegiant could cross the Dierlam Ranch for the limited purpose of accessing and plugging the Remora Oil Unit. The decision does not give the company unrestricted use of the ranch. Instead, the ruling concerns access needed to carry out the work associated with the inactive well. The court’s decision also considered the regulatory responsibilities surrounding abandoned or inactive oil wells. Allegiant argued that it needed access to comply with requirements imposed by the Railroad Commission.
Access to the well had historically been provided through the Dierlam Ranch, which is associated with the McFaddin Ranch property.