Contracting for Sustainable Surface Management

Authors

• Tara Righetti, University of Wyoming

Keywords

Oil and gas, oil and gas development, surface damage agreements

Abstract

This article examines the surface damage agreement as an instrument of private governance. Part I describes split-estate ownership of oil and gas and the historic dominant-servient ordering of the mineral and surface estates. Part II explores the rebalancing of power effectuated by split estate acts and statutory requirements to contract for surface damages in both state and federal law. Part III examines the surface damage agreement and provides a catalog of common environmental provisions and covenants within those agreements. Part IV analyses surface damage agreements within the framework of private governance instruments, identifying their benefits and exploring the limitations of reliance on individual surface owners to promote surface management best practices. Part V identifies opportunities to increase the governance function of surface damage agreements through the incorporation of third-party standards and verification and explores the potential of other private governance instruments to influence upstream surface management practices.

Recommended Citation

Tara Righetti, Contracting for Sustainable Surface Management, 71 Ark. L. Rev. 367 (2018).
https://doi.org/10.54119/alr.avjd7266
Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/alr/vol71/iss2/2