Shale Drillers Face Biggest Legal Challenge from Real Estate Matters, Says Report

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From the Houston Business Journal:
The greatest legal challenges to those operating in the U.S. shale plays hinges on real estate issues, according to results from a survey by Steptoe & Johnson PLLC.
The need for outside counsel occurs most often in cases going to litigation, involving title and real estate or private financing, the survey found.
The report, “Below The Surface: The Legal Challenges of Shale Gas Production,” commissioned the Brand Research Company to conduct a total of 101 interviews between January and March 2013. It included 96 legal service buyers at 56 companies doing business in the U.S. shales. Among the businesses that participated were Houston-basedConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), the Woodlands’ Newfield Exploration Co., (NYSE: NFX) and Shell Oil Company, which is also based in Houston. Forty-seven percent of the companies involved had annual revenue in excess of $1 billion.
Read the rest of that article here.

And here is the report:




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