So, to reiterate, the "court " process is the way things are done in Oklahoma.
If you want to understand the process the below is a historical explanation of the how and why the OCC was established and how it works.
https://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1737&context=tlrIt is an interesting read.
With that understanding what
@LewZealand posted today was the outcome of the process of BRK " winning" it's Emergency Order (EO) to go about it's business at Rangers.
BRK had previously won the "orders " for the DSU, the well spacing exemption and pooling. These were contested by parties as pretty well all such orders are as the parties try to leverage a better outcome for themselves.
BRK won a similar Emergency for order for Jewell.
https://imaging.occ.ok.gov/AP/Orders/occ30411752.pdfAfter BRK won all the permits for the Jewell well it was found that the drill path came a bit close to a vertical well ( less than 600 feet from the Newberry which BRK have an interest in)
which made the Jewel " illegal". They had to apply for an EO to receive a well spacing exemption to be able to drill the Jewel on the basis of " economic loss" to BRK ( the standard argument) if the well wasn't allowed to proceed.
The emergency order was granted , and BRK were OK to drill, but not " produce" until the Emergency order was superseded by the final Order was was granted as usual... It was was systems go for Jewell, all normal, all in the background and the well is now online and " producing".
The " final" Jewell order
https://imaging.occ.ok.gov/AP/Orders/occ30422903.pdfBelow is the case and order file for the Jewell in just one of the process files.
View attachment 3822821Every one of those is a legal document, a public notice, affidavit, a protest by a third party, a hearing for a continuation, an order.
This happens for all DSU's for every company. Not all are protested by parties, but the majority are.
I put up a random case file number and the below popped up.
View attachment 3822836Citizen application for a multiunit DSU in Canadian County Oklahoma. No orders yet but you can see similar notices, motions, protests etc as per the Jewell list
Now
The most recent " issue" with Rangers is that again BRK had all " orders" in place for the Rangers DSU, well location and pooling. Camino, who drilled the very successful Sundance Kid well in the DSU next door( for some reason) were allowed to drill their well "out of spacing" and drill it within ~300 feet of the western border of the Rangers DSU. ( Shouldn't be less than~ 600 feet). When BRK won their allotment of " orders" to legally drill the Rangers well, Camino " protested" on the basis that Rangers will affect their well and wanted the OCC to to grant an order accepting the protest and delay the Rangers well.
Prior to the EO hearing Camino appealed and lost a review by an Appellate Judge who found for BRK. Camino applied to the OCC Commissioners to review the Appellate Judges decision, which BRK managed to have heard at the same time as their EO, and BRK won that which is now the Emergency order posted earlier and delated today by
@LewZealand.
That hearing BRK applied for resulted in an "emergency " order being issued denying the Camino request. The hearing is the " court case" where lawyers for BRK and Camino question their own witnesses and cross examine the other parties witnesses to provide evidence for the arguments.
The Camino protest was crazy. Effectively they wanted to stop BRK drilling a well that is legally positioned within a DSU where Camino have no interest. They wanted to delay this well because this well would act as a " protection' well which could essentially stop Camino draining oil and gas from the BRK permit as the Camino well was drilled too close to the boundary! BRK were arguing that if the Camino protest was upheld, it would face significant economic loss due to the rig contract being signed where if drilling was delayed it would face high daily drilling standby rates, if the drilling contract was terminated it would face significant release penalty fees. It would also face the loss of a major lease position due to an expiry in mid Jan 2022 , and if the Camino well is indeed draining a portion of the BRK DSU, it faces economic loss due to that. Camino wouldn't even provide the requested Sundance kid data to back up their argument !
When you argue " economic loss" it is important to convince the Commissioners of the gravity of any potential loss so the lawyers do their stuff
Suffice to say the Commission found in favour of BRK...... kicked some butt!
The EO allows BRK to drill, complete and test the well, but not produce... it doesn't specify how long a production test is mean't to last. The Commission will provide a final order which will supersede the EO as per normal and BRK will be allowed to produce, just like the Jewell. The effect of the emergency order is to allow Rangers to commence as scheduled while the Commission prepares the final order.
Not all cases are these sort of street fights , but BRK have had a fair share over the years and won most of them. In regards to why, when BRK should announce such details, if every step in the process , every case was to be announced BRK would be announced 10 times a week. BRK will announce material outcomes when they arise and in this case, winning an emergency order which allows you to continue doing something you had already had permission to do may not be material news. BRK may or may not announce this because there has not been any change to plans as a result. If BRK had lost the process then there would be an announcement as there would have been a material delay to Rangers.
It is a little intimidating the first time you come across the " legal" process, reading court cases, lawyers etc and you immediately have visions of the typical USA legal nightmare scenes from the TV. But as this is just the process, time and expense of doing business in the oil patch in Oklahoma. The funny thing is that even with all this, the process is faster than anything seen in the permitting arena for oil, gas, mining in Australia
The main lesson out of this is again highlighting the quality , experience and knowledge of the team in the USA, and led by David. These guys have been doing this for years and show BRK are in good hands, at ALL levels of the company.
Time for a J&T
Hopefully this explains tings somewhat.
cheers
Dan
(20min delay)