National Association of Division Order Analysts October / November / December 2025
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Volume MMXXV • No 4
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Contents Feature
Articles
NADOA 2025 Officers President Kimberly Bowman 1st Vice President Jean Hinton 2nd Vice President Armando Lopez Treasurer Iris Alcantara Corresponding Secretary
Updates The AI Boom Brings Opportunities................................................6 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Probate.................12 Revenue DOI, Horizontal Wells & Unleased Mineral Owners in Texas.............................................15 Bitcoin’s Energy Frontier in 2025..................................................17 National Niche OCS Litigation & NPR-A Rollback.................................................19 The Rudy Family Memorial Scholarship.....................................20 Interaction NARO 2025 Conference.....................................................................22 2025 NADOA Corporate Donors......................................................27
Nichole Dwire, CDOA Recording Secretary Samantha Rodelo
In This
The NADOA News Magazine is a quarterly publication of the National Association of Division
Issue
Order Analysts P O Box 1656 Palm Harbor, FL 34682
President’s Corner................................................................................1 Decimal Points........................................................................................2 Cobwebs....................................................................................................3 NADOA Tech.............................................................................................3 Certification.............................................................................................4 Important Announcements................................................................5 Rudy Family Memorial Scholarship Application..................21 New Members........................................................................................22 A New Editorial Leaf..........................................................................23 Counterpart Connection...................................................................24 2025 Board & Committee Chairs..................................................30 Calendar of Events..............................................................................31
Subscription: By membership to NADOA, at $100.00 per year. News Magazine Editor Rona L. Erickson, CDOA magazine@nadoa.org
Graphic Design, Paul Beach
On the Cover: Boston Public Library & The Westin Hotel Photo courtesy of The Westin Copley Place
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced/copied without written permission. Editorial disclaimer: The contents of this newsletter are intended for member use only and any other use without permission from the NADOA Board of Directors is strictly prohibited. Articles published herein represent the view of the authors; publication neither implies approval of the opinions expressed nor accuracy of the facts stated and NADOA accepts no liability for misprints.
President’s
Corner
Kimberly A. Bowman 2025 NADOA President
President’s Farewell Message
Where has 2025 gone? I’m already seeing Christmas lights in our neighborhood and can’t believe we haven’t even seen the turkey yet! I would like to thank you for allowing me the honor of serving as your 2025 President, a role that will come to an end in December. The camaraderie and friendships I’ve developed with the members of the Board—and with so many of our members, both longtime and new—are truly priceless. During the first weekend of November, we held our 4Q NADOA Board meeting, and I must admit, I was truly sad that my year as President is ending. I want to sincerely thank the 2025 Board and Institute Committee for all their hard work, long hours, and dedication in making 2025 such a great year. It has been a true pleasure working alongside each of you. I also know that Jean Hinton, your incoming President , and her Institute Committee are already hard at work planning for 2026—and it’s going to be an awesome year for NADOA! With the Institute being held right here in Texas, in Las Colinas , I hope many of you will be able to attend—whether by driving or flying. Go ahead and mark your calendars and get your requests in now! A special thank-you to everyone who responded to our NADOA Institute survey. The results were off the charts, and Boston was a hit —the best survey results we’ve ever had! If you haven’t had the chance to respond to our surveys, please do so in the future. We read every comment, and your input truly helps us continue to improve the Institute experience for all members. In 2026, I’ll be serving as your Board Advisor, and I’m looking forward to reaching out to many of you about running for a Board position in 2027. I encourage each of you to consider getting involved—whether by serving on the Board or volunteering for Institute. You won’t regret it! You’ll make lasting friendships and feel like part of a big family. As I wrap up 2025, I know my family is ready to have me home and back to “normal” life again—especially my husband, as we are caretakers for my mother-in-law, Nena, who is in the advanced stages of vascular dementia. I’m also planning more road trips to Oklahoma to visit our families—I’ve truly missed spending quality time with my mom and two grown children.
I wish you and your family a very Happy Holiday Season and a wonderful New Year !
Enjoy the memories and cherish every moment.
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Rona Erickson , CDOA Editor
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contacting speakers before a webinar event to obtain biographies and presentations, and helping modernize NADOA’s GoToWebinar site. Please email webinars@nadoa.org if you are interested. The 2025 Webinar Co-Chairs, Gordon Gallet, Sara Buck, and Yoli Bazan would love to hear from you! Steptoe & Johnson PLLC – Visit: https://www.steptoe-johnson.com and click on News for details. The Steptoe webcasts are recorded: to access previously recorded webcasts, go to www.Steptoe- Johnson.com and enter Webcasts in the search feature. Oliva Gibbs LLP – Energy Education Series: Visit: www.oglawyers.com/ events for further information. NARO – Visit: https://www.naro-us.org/events/list for webinar schedule. If you are aware of other educational webinars, please advise the NADOA News Magazine of details to be added to the Calendar of Events ( magazine@nadoa.org ).
Educational webinars can be approved for 1 (one) CDOA certification point. NADOA webinars, Steptoe & Johnson
PLLC webcasts and Oliva Gibbs LLP webinars are pre-approved. Please check the certification page to determine if other webinars are pre-approved or need to be submitted for approval to the NADOA Certification Committee. Contact the CDOA committee to obtain pre-approvals at cdoa@nadoa . org. Certification points should only be applied for after completing the event. If you are unable to attend an event due to unforeseen circumstances, it is an ethics violation to apply for the credit. NADOA – Webinar information and registration links will be posted on the website ( www.nadoa.org ). Webinars are free for NADOA members and $15.00 for non-members. NADOA members may use the following link to log in and register for upcoming webinars, as well as listen to previously recorded webinars https://nadoa.wildapricot.org/ page-1709226 or by using the Webinar link in the Members Only section on the homepage. Please send suggestions for NADOA webinar topics/ speakers to webinars@nadoa.org . Details for upcoming NADOA Webinars can be found at: https://nadoa.org/news-events/ The webinar committee is looking for volunteers. Opportunities include: creating webinar flyers,
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Upates
Articles are not intended to be and should not be relied upon as legal advice or to establish any kind of an attorney-client relationship with the author.
The AI Boom Brings Opportunities to the Oil and Gas Industry The History of Artificial Intelligence
adjusting billions of parameters through repeated computations that require immense processing power. [9] The solution to this energy demand has been the expansion of AI data centers. An AI data center is a facility that houses the specific IT infrastructure needed to train, deploy, and deliver AI applications and services. [10] AI data centers have advanced network and storage architectures and energy and cooling capabilities to handle AI workloads. [11] While the concept of AI data centers is not new, the proliferation of AI data centers has created a unique opportunity for the oil and gas industry.
While it feels like a relatively new development, the concept of artificial intelligence (“AI”) dates back decades. In 1950, computer scientist, Alan Turig, who is considered the “father of AI,” published his seminal work, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” [1] In this paper, Turig considered the question, “can machines think,” claiming that there is no convincing argument that machines cannot think intelligently like humans. [2] In 1956, John McCarthy, a professor at Dartmouth, organized a summer workshop to clarify and develop ideas about thinking machines. [3] It was during this workshop that McCarthy coined the term “artificial intelligence.” [4] Over the past eight decades, AI development has made great strides. In the 1960s, George Devol, an American inventor, created the first industrial robot, Unimate . [5] Unimate was used by General Motors, transporting die castings from an assembly line and welding these parts on auto bodies. [6] In the mid-1960s, Joseph Weizenbaum, a computer scientist and professor at MIT, developed the ELIZA program, an early natural language processing program designed to mimic human-like conversation using pattern matching and substitution rules to generate responses. [7] ELIZA was the foundation on which ChatGPT was built. ELIZA was limited in that it lacked human understanding and relied on pre-programmed responses. However, in the 1980s, Rollo Carpenter, an AI developer, created Jabberwacky , which was designed to learn from human input and could simulate natural human conversation. [8]
Natural Gas and AI Data Centers
Natural gas is one of the most reliable sources of energy today, and the infrastructure necessary to produce and transport natural gas to power AI data centers is already in place. The federal government also provides tax incentives to producers of natural gas. Even so, there is still an obstacle that the natural gas industry faces to become the main source of power for AI data centers. To power AI data centers, natural gas needs to be converted to electricity by turbines, which are currently in short supply and very difficult to acquire. The Process by Which Natural Gas Becomes Electricity In general, natural gas is drilled, collected, and transported by pipelines to a treatment plant to remove water or waste and then sent to a power plant. [12]
Today, with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude available, AI is more advanced than it has ever been. AI model training currently involves
At the power plant, the conversion process can take place by several different means including
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by using a boiler, combustion turbine, or both. “When using a boiler, water is boiled creating steam that spins a turbine and generates electricity. When using a combustion turbine, pressurized gas turns the blades of a turbine connected to a generator. Magnets spin inside the generator creating an electric current. These methods can be used independently or together. In a combined cycle system, the energy created by one turbine generates more energy in another turbine. After one engine completes a conversion cycle, the heat exhaust is transferred through a heat exchanger. A second engine extracts energy from the heat to begin its own conversion cycle.” [13]
In Louisiana, Meta Platforms is constructing a 2GW+ AI data center. [22] “The $10 billion project will be built on 2,250 acres, housing 4 million sq ft with nine buildings slated to be almost the size of Manhattan. Entergy will spend $3.2 billion to build a 1.5GW gas plant on Franklin Farms as part of a co-location deal . . . or acquire another 1.5GW of solar power elsewhere to offset the carbon emissions.” [23] Finally, in Oklahoma, Core Scientific and AI hyperscaler CoreWeave are building a 100MW facility and Google has invested over $4.8 billion in its Mayes County, Oklahoma, data center campus, expanding it three times since 2007. [24] Consequently, the high concentration of pipelines in these regions will give natural gas a competitive advantage in becoming the main source of power for these projects.
After the electricity is created, it is sent through power lines to be used in our homes or for commercial, industrial, or transportation use. [14]
Natural Gas Pipelines and AI Data Centers
There are three types of natural gas pipelines: gathering pipelines, transmission
Governmental Incentives for Natural Gas
pipelines, and distribution pipelines. [15] Gathering pipelines transport the natural gas collected from the wellheads to a central collection point like a storage facility, a processing plant, or a transmission pipeline. [16] Transmission pipelines move high volumes of natural gas from the production and processing plants, storage facilities, and distribution centers. [17] Finally, distribution pipelines deliver natural gas to homes, businesses, and facilities. [18] According to the O/I Fund, some of the largest AI data center projects are in regions with the densest natural gas transmission pipelines like Texas with over 58,500 miles of pipelines, Louisiana with over 18,900 miles of pipelines, and Oklahoma with over 18,500 miles of pipelines. [19] In Abilene, Texas, Project Stargate is a $500 billion joint venture investment between Oracle, Softbank, and Open AI, building AI data centers that are each half a million square feet. [20] Project Stargate is planning to build ten buildings in the Abilene, Texas location. [21]
The federal administration has given natural gas companies an increasing free hand to expand their production and supply infrastructure. [25] This is good news for midstream companies responsible for transporting natural gas and working to meet the increasing demand of AI data centers. [26] The legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law on July 4, 2025, by President Donald Trump, includes tax incentives favorable to the oil and gas industry. [27] A major incentive is lifting restrictions in the Inflation Reduction Act on tax deductions for intangible drilling costs – often between 60% and 80% of total costs. [28]
Can Turbine Supply Keep Up with the AI Boom?
“After years of flat or declining electricity demand, US utilities are projecting rapid growth driven by AI, electrification, and industrial expansion . . . nearly the equivalent of adding a new California, Texas, and New York to the bulk
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power system.” [29]
making gas-powered electricity generation a more attractive option for private sector actors to meet the energy demands of AI data centers.
Today, the increased global demand for gas turbines is creating supply chain constraints. [30] The issue stems from the ability of the handful of suppliers of the turbines to keep up with demand. Currently, three companies will supply most of the current demand: GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, and Mitsubishi Power. [31] Due to increased demand, these companies have extended their delivery timelines. [32] “Mitsubishi states that turbines ordered today will not be delivered until 2028–2030. Siemens reports a record backlog of € 131 billion (US$148 billion). And GE Vernova has announced new turbines will not be available until late 2028 at the earliest.” [33] Thus, given the increasing demand for power consumption, if the supply for turbines does not increase, utilities facing delays in production might be unable to keep up with consumption. Additionally, costs for turbines available for purchase have increased, therefore, inadvertently costing the ratepayer more money. [34] However, there are alternatives we can use to help as near-term solutions, including: energy efficiency solutions, virtual power plants, grid-enhancing technologies, clean pre-powering, and hybrid “power couples” sited at existing fossil generator points of interconnection. [35] Therefore, despite the short supply of turbines, natural gas is well positioned to meet the current and future demand of AI data centers. Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) for Natural Gas-Powered AI Datacenters
Background
Carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”) technologies can capture up to 90-95% of CO 2 emissions from large natural gas-fired power plants. [36] The US electrical grid emits 340-420 kg CO 2 e/ MWh on average; but when gas-fired power plants are paired with CCS technology, a gas-powered plant emits 80-120 CO 2 e/MWh on average. [37] While renewables and nuclear emit less CO 2 , gas-powered plants paired with CCS are more dependable and flexible, while also being cost effective at $70-100/MWh compared to $77/MWh for nuclear and $87/MWh for solar. [38] Without CCS technology, gas-powered plants cost $37/MWh on average, but CCS is necessary for gas-powered plants to be environmentally sustainable on a large scale. Even at $70-100/MWh, gas-powered plants paired with CCS technology are fiscally competitive with nuclear ($77/MWh) and solar ($87/MWh). Moreover, scale and regulatory incentives will further reduce costs of gas-powered-CCS plants. [39]
Regulatory Environment Ripe for Investment
Section 45Q Federal Tax Credits
Enacted in 2008, Treasury Regulation § 1.45Q (“Section 45Q”) incentivizes qualified facilities that capture and permanently sequester or utilize carbon emissions, including emissions from natural gas-fired power plants, through federal tax credits. [40] Under Section 45Q, facilities must begin construction before January 1, 2033 to be eligible to claim tax credits for the 12-year period after the project is placed into service. [41] Specifically, for natural gas-fired power plants, the facility must capture at least 18,750 metric tons per year of carbon emissions, with equipment designed to capture at least 75% of baseline emissions, to qualify for Section 45Q tax credits. [42]
Introduction
While natural gas-powered electricity is a key component to meet AI data centers’ unprecedented demand for electricity, carbon emissions are a primary concern. Carbon capture and sequestration is paramount to curbing carbon emissions, but carbon capture and sequestration technologies face challenges as they increase project timelines, raise costs significantly, and are highly regulated by federal and state governments. However, regulatory and tax incentives from the federal government are reducing barriers to entry,
As previously mentioned, enacted in July
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2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) modified the structure of Section 45Q tax credits to increase their value for carbon capture developers. Under OBBBA, there is one credit value for projects capturing carbon dioxide from industrial and power facilities ($85 per metric ton) and one value for direct air capture projects ($180 per metric ton), representing the maximum value of carbon credits under previous iterations of Section 45Q. [43] Previously, the value of Section 45Q tax credits depended on the end-use of the captured carbon, so tax credits for capturing carbon from industrial and power facilities varied from $60 to $85 per metric ton; and tax credits for direct air capture projects varied from $130 to $180 per metric ton. [44] Further under OBBBA, Section 45Q tax credits are available as a direct payment or transferable to a third party, allowing developers to receive either a direct refund or to monetize their credits via sale. [45] Finally, unlike previous iterations of Section 45Q, OBBBA adjusts Section 45Q tax credits for inflation beginning in 2027 so that the credits do not lose value over time. [46] Overall, OBBBA makes Section 45Q tax credits for CCS projects more valuable than ever before.
carbon sequestration in the state, possibly as soon as December 2025. [51] Texas primacy is a major development in CCS because captured carbon now can be sequestered in Texas, rather than having to be transported long distances to another state that has primacy. [52] For natural gas-powered plants, the ability to sequester carbon much closer to the location of the plant itself would drastically decrease transportation costs. [53] As result, Exxon, Oxy, and other supermajors in the oil and gas industry recently have announced construction projects for natural gas-powered plants in Texas, citing proximity to natural gas sources as a key factor; but now, the ability also to sequester carbon in Texas provides another advantage for siting natural gas-powered plants in Texas. [54]
Impact on AI Data Centers
The OBBBA’s sweeping reforms to the Section 45Q tax credits establish a uniform and substantially more valuable incentive framework for carbon capture, making gas-powered plants an attractive option to provide electricity to AI data centers. By integrating carbon capture and sequestration technologies into data center infrastructure, operators and investors can maximize available federal carbon capture incentives, while simultaneously managing exposure to long-term cost and policy uncertainties. As AI data center decarbonization becomes a strategic and regulatory imperative, pairing natural gas power with advanced carbon capture and sequestration technologies offers robust, near- term solutions for emissions reduction, operational reliability, and flexible output capacity. The expansion of tax credits and regulatory incentives has tilted the financial equation toward aggressive adoption of natural gas-powered electricity generation, and carbon capture and sequestration makes gas-powered plants environmentally sustainable for the future.
State Primacy
Currently, the most stringent regulatory hurdle for CCS – Class VI well permits – is at an all-time low. Carbon, including CO 2 emissions from gas-fired power plants, must be stored in a Class VI well, which is the most regulated classification of disposal well by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). [47] The EPA must grant a state primacy over Class VI wells, meaning that the state has authority to regulate and permit Class VI wells under the EPA’s requirements. [48] To date, only Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming have been granted primacy by the EPA, meaning these are the only states that can permit Class VI wells for carbon sequestration. [49] As part of the EPA’s initiative surrounding CCS, the federal government has expedited the primacy application process. [50] In July 2025, the EPA approved Texas’s application for primacy, meaning that the Texas Railroad Commission will be able to regulate and permit Class VI wells for
Opportunities for Oil and Gas Professionals
While most people associate the proliferation of AI data centers with major tech companies such
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as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, behind the scenes, oil and gas professionals have, and will, play a vital role in ensuring the viability of these AI data centers. Landmen and attorneys are uniquely positioned to both leverage their current skillsets and develop new ones. Traditionally, landmen have been crucial in the success of oil and gas operations. Their duties include negotiating leases with landowners, title research, regulatory compliance, and coordination between geologists, engineers, and other experts to support exploration and production efforts. Landmen are experts on the ground to ensure the success of oil and gas projects. This expertise will be valuable to tech companies when they are identifying potential sites for AI data centers. While AI and machine learning algorithms will play a significant role in site selection and data analysis because they can predict the best locations for energy projects by analyzing vast amounts of data, landmen can become subject matter experts on platforms such as LandApp , a tool developed by LandGate, which provides analytics for renewable energy and data center developers. [55]
the country has created a unique opportunity for the oil and gas industry. Due to the immense energy required to power AI data centers, operators have turned to natural gas as an energy solution. This means that oil and gas professionals are uniquely positioned to leverage their ability to negotiate deeds and leases for the land on which AI data centers will be built and the natural gas operations that will power them. Finally, as the use of AI becomes more prevalent, so will legal disputes arising from environmental protection, data security, and intellectual property protection. As a result, attorneys will be called upon to provide guidance and expertise to help operators navigate these issues in an ever changing environment. [ 1] History of AI: Timeline and the Future, M aryville U niversity (May 19, 2023), https://online.maryville.edu/ blog/history-of-ai/. [2] Jet New, A Summary of Alan Turig’s Computing Machinery and Intelligence , M edium (Aug. 12, 2020), https://medium.com/@jetnew/a-summary-of-alan- m-turings-computing-machinery-and-intelligence- fd714d187c0b. [3] The Birth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research , L awrence L ivermore N ational L aboratory , https://st.llnl. gov/news/look-back/birth-artificial-intelligence-ai- research (last visited Aug. 29, 2025). [4] Id . [5] Jeremy Norman, George Devol Invests Unimate, the First Industrial Robot (June 11, 2025), https://www. historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3616. [6] Id. [7] The Story of ELIZA: The AI That Fooled The World , L ondon I ntercultural A cademy , https://liacademy. co.uk/the-story-of-eliza-the-ai-that-fooled-the- world/?v=0b3b97fa6688 (last visited Aug. 29, 2025). [8] Id. [9] Mahmut Kandemir, Why AI uses so much energy – and what we can do about it , P enn S tate I nstitute of E nergy and the E nvironment (Apr. 8, 2025), https://iee. psu.edu/news/blog/why-ai-uses-so-much-energy-and- what-we-can-do-about-it. [10] Alexandra Jonker & Alice Gomstyn, What is an AI Data Center? , IBM (Feb. 21, 2025), https://www.ibm. com/think/topics/ai-data-center. [11] Id. [12] How does natural gas become electricity? , W illiams ,
Operating AI-driven data centers presents
complex legal challenges and attorneys will be called upon to address those challenges. Attorneys will be asked to guide operators through energy procurement negotiations, environmental compliance, data security, and intellectual property protection. [56] Securing permits for energy infrastructure and facility expansions involves navigating local zoning laws, environmental impact assessments, and community engagement processes. [57] Legal disputes will likely arise when location regulations conflict with large-scale energy projects. [58] Proposed regulations could impose energy efficiency standards, carbon reporting requirements, or even limits on high-energy-consuming AI applications. [59] Attorneys should stay informed about emerging energy and AI regulations, as governments are beginning to scrutinize the energy impact of AI technologies. [60]
The proliferation of AI data centers across
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https://www.williams.com/energy-insights/how-does- natural-gas-become-electricity/#:~:text=Pipelines%20 gather%20the%20natural%20gas,to%20utilities%2C%20 including%20power%20plants (last visited Aug. 29, 2025).
Power Consumption? , G oldman S achs (Jan. 23, 2025), https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/is- nuclear-energy-the-answer-to-ai-data-centers-power- consumption. [39] See C arbon D irect , supra note 36; G oldman S achs , supra note 38. [40] T reas . R eg . § 1.45Q, et seq. [41] Tax Credits Drive Carbon Capture Deployment in our Annual Energy Outlook , U.S. E nergy I nformation A dmin . (July 18, 2025), https://www.globalccsinstitute. com/news-media/latest-news/u-s-preserves-and- increases-45q-credit-in-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/. [42] Credit for Carbon Oxide Sequestration , I nternal R evenue S ervice (last updated May 29, 2025), https:// www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/credit-for-carbon-oxide- sequestration. [43] Fact Sheet: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 , C arbon C apture C oalition (June 2025), https://carboncapturecoalition.org/wp-content/ uploads/2025/07/OBBB-fact-sheet.pdf. [44] Id. [45] Senate Passes Budget Reconciliation Package, Retains Mission-Critical Elements of Federal Section 45Q Tax Credit , C arbon C apture C oalition (July 1, 2025), https://carboncapturecoalition.org/senate-passes-budget- reconciliation-package-retains-mission-critical-elements- of-federal-section-45q-tax-credit/. [46] U. S. Preserves and Increases 45Q Credit in “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” , G lobal CCS I nstitute (July 8, 2025), https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/news-media/latest- news/u-s-preserves-and-increases-45q-credit-in-one-big- beautiful-bill-act/. [47] C arbon D irect , supra note 36. [48] See EPA Proposes to Approve Texas’ Application to Administer Class VI Underground Injection Well Program , U.S. E nvironmental P rotection A gency ( June 9, 2025), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa- proposes-approve-texas-application-administer-class-vi- underground-injection-well.
[13] Id. [14] Id.
[15] Why Gas Pipelines are the Unsung Heroes of AI Data Center Expansion , I/O F und (Mar. 18, 2025), https://io- fund.com/renewable-energy/data-center/ai-data-center- expansion-gas-pipelines.
[16] Id. [17] Id. [18] Id. [19] Id. [20] Id. [21] Id. [22] Id. [23] Id. [24] Id.
[25] Zachary Skidmore, Welcome to Gas Land - how natural gas is powering the US AI boom, D ata C enter D ynamics (May 1, 2025), https://www. datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/welcome-to-gas- land-how-natural-gas-is-powering-the-us-ai-boom/. [26] Id. [27] Ed Crooks, What the “big beautiful bill” means for US energy, W ood M ackenzie (July 11, 2025), https:// www.woodmac.com/blogs/energy-pulse/big-beautiful- bill-us-energy/. [28] Id. [29] Jesse Cohen, Tyler Fitch & Lauren Shwisberg, Gas Turbine Supply Constraints Threaten Grid Reliability; More Affordable Near-Term Solutions Can Help , RMI (June 18, 2025), https://rmi.org/gas-turbine-supply- constraints-threaten-grid-reliability-more-affordable-near- term-solutions-can-help/.
[30] Id. [31] Id. [32] Id. [33] Id. [34] Id. [35] Id.
[49] Id. [50] Id.
[51] Texas Clears Penultimate Hurdle to Class VI Primacy: What it Means for CCS and State-Led Permitting , JD S upra (June 13, 2025), https://www. jdsupra.com/legalnews/texas-clears-penultimate-hurdle- to-4888343/. [52] See id. [53] C arbon D irect , supra note 36. [54] See Steel, Ammonia and AI? Oh my! What Can’t Our CCS Help Decarbonize? , E xxon M obil ( Dec. 11,
[36] Carbon Capture for Natural Gas-Fired Power Generation , C arbon D irect (Mar. 3, 2025), https:// www.carbon-direct.com/insights/carbon-capture-for- natural-gas-fired-power-generation-an-opportunity-for- hyperscalers. [37] Id. [38] Id. ; Is Nuclear Energy the Answer to AI Data Centers’
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2024), https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/what-we- do/delivering-industrial-solutions/carbon-capture- and-storage/steel-ammonia-ai-what-cant-ccs-help- decarbonize; Carolos Nogueras Ramos & Alejandra Martinez, Texas Oil and Gas Companies Want State Oversight for Carbon Dioxide Injection , T he T exas T ribune ( Feb. 6, 2025), https://www.texastribune. org/2025/02/06/texas-primacy-carbon-capture-oil-gas/; Carlos Nogueras Ramos, Texas Energy Company Wins First-of-its-kind Permit to Suck Carbon Out of Air, Store Underground , T he T exas T ribune (A pr. 8,2025), https:// www.texastribune.org/2025/04/08/texas-direct-carbon- capture-oxy/. [55] Yoann Hispa, The Modern Landman: Renewable Energy Prospecting , L andgate (Jan. 16, 2025), https:// www.landgate.com/news/the-new-landman-the-future- of-renewable-energy-prospecting; Brooke Dudley, Transforming Economic Development: Government Wins on LandApp in 2024 , L and A pp (last updated June 5, 2025), https://www.landapp.com/post/transforming- economic-development-government-wins-on-landapp-
in-2024. [56] Bray Dohrwardt, The Intersection of Energy and AI: Legal Considerations for Data Centers in the Age of Machine Learning , A visen L egal (Jan. 16, 2025), https:// www.avisenlegal.com/the-intersection-of-energy-and- ai-legal-considerations-for-data-centers-in-the-age-of- machine-learning/#:~:text=AI%20data%20centers%20 process%20sensitive,with%20energy%2Defficient%20 operational%20practices.&text=Securing%20perm
[57] Id. [58] Id. [59] Id. [60] Id.
Authors: Attorneys with Oliva Gibbs, PLLC Robert Royce, Janette Uribe, and Alex Love CLE webinar hosted and published by them via Oliva Gibbs.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Probate
Division Order Analysts sometimes receive interesting division of interest maintenance documents. That said, I had one come across my desk a few years ago that I will always remember. I’ve decided to share it. A Will and death certificate came in under a cover letter from a young man claiming to be the executor of the estate of his deceased mother. The letter included a phone number in case I had questions. I saw on the death certificate that his mother died in Texas. The Order Admitting the Will to Probate and Letters Testamentary were missing. He claimed to be executor of the estate. I knew from training and experience that the Order creates the legal entity “Estate” and the Letters would grant him the authority of Executor of that Estate.
Putting that aside for the moment, I quickly glanced at the Will to see what property was to be distributed. My mouth dropped when I saw no less than four pages of legal descriptions, grouped into categories which then were bequeathed in the Will. From that, I knew that the estate was worth far more than the $75,000 limit Texas places on an Affidavit of Heirship, so I would need the other documents before I could make any changes to the divisions of interest. He answered my call and I politely asked him to either mail or email to me a copy of the missing documents. He replied that the Will was not being probated. The red flag that went up was huge. While still on the phone with him, I quickly glanced at the death certificate and noticed that she had died almost three and a half years before
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the company received the documents. I then told him he needed to talk to an experienced estate attorney because Texas only allows four years to elapse between death and filing the Will for probate. After that, an Administration of the Estate would be necessary which is nothing more than the probate court issuing an order that is equivalent to an affidavit of heirship. It also serves as a conveyance to the heirs per Texas laws of descent and distribution. He told me that he is “in touch” with such an attorney, but was told just to send a copy of the Will and death certificate to the companies paying royalties to his mother. They would start paying him and his brother, and the rest of the estate would be handled later, he told me. I quickly ended the conversation on a cheerful note, but immediately dived into reading the Will from beginning to end. Two things in it caught my eye immediately. First, his brother was named in the Will to be executor of the Estate, not this man. Secondly, it gave his brother authority to temporarily manage the property being devised to the brother with whom I had just spoken, “from time to time, as necessary.” Whoa. What was going on here? The second thing I saw was that the clause distributing the real property simply said “to my sons, to be divided equally.” It was strange that she didn’t give the number of sons or their names. Two sons had been identified by name earlier in the Will, stating that she would be survived by her sons Tom and Harry. That seemed odd. I decided I needed to bypass the brother who sent the documents and contact the other brother. I called the first brother back and trying hard to sound like an airhead, explained that I forgot to tell him I needed the full contact information for him and his brother, where we could send a W-9 to get tax IDs. Not blinking, he gave me all of his information, including his tax ID, over the phone, and gave me his brother’s address and phone number. I thanked him again and hung up. I wasn’t able to reach the other brother, Harry, until the next day.
Harry was quite cordial and businesslike on the phone, a stark contrast to his brother Tom. I told him that we had received the documents from Tom, but we received only the Will and death certificate, that the court documents were missing. He immediately asked me if the Codicil had been included with the Will. At that moment, I knew immediately this piece of maintenance wouldn’t be ordinary. I told the brother that because we had received the documents, at the very least we must suspend all revenues being paid to his deceased mother, which had continued going out all this time. He said that was fine, but that I needed a copy of the Codicil and he would send it to me. About a week later the Codicil arrived as an attachment in an email that explained that there were some “family issues” that were being “worked out” before filing the Will for probate. He didn’t explain further. Then I read the Codicil. The problem being “worked out” jumped out at me right away. The Codicil said that the mother was adding a “special bequest” to her son “Dickie”, that special bequest being a deposit of whatever amount necessary into the investment account already established for Dickie, to bring the balance to $1,000,000. It went on to identify the Guardian of Dickie and instructions that the Guardian was to use income from the investment to assist in Dickie’s care “until he reaches the age of 18.” What? The death certificate showed she was 86 years old when she died almost four years previously, so how on earth could she be survived by a minor child? The Codicil was executed just two years before she died. I was ready to throw the deceased owner’s account into suspense for death and create a pdf containing a memo explaining everything I knew all of the documents and correspondence. Then Tom called me. He had found out that Harry sent the Codicil, and he wanted to explain. He was certain that all of this would be worked out “very soon,” so could I hold off suspending the account? No, of course I could not. To try and make his case for holding off suspending, he began his explanation.
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Dickie was actually Tom’s son by his ex-girlfriend. Dickie was only eight when his grandmother died, but when she died Dickie wasn’t her grandson, he was her adopted son. Tom explained that he had “addiction issues” and had been in and out of rehab several times. He confessed that was how Tom met Dickie’s mother. In order to make certain Dickie would be a legal heir, his grandmother (the deceased owner) adopted him right before executing the Codicil. When the call ended, my head was spinning. This explained why Harry was given authority in the Will to handle Tom’s affairs “from time to time” and why Tom didn’t try to adopt Dickie legally, for heirship purposes. It also explained the most likely reason why the Will and Codicil were not being probated at that time. Because the Will expressly devised “to my sons, in equal shares” all real property in the largest group of legal descriptions, Tom and Harry would not each receive half, they would receive only one- third. This could amount to millions of dollars difference, based on everything I had assessed from the Will and company records. And, the company I was working for was only one of many companies paying royalties, no doubt. In the end, it turned out that Harry was working with an estate attorney to negotiate the “signing bonus” for the Guardian (Dickie’s biological mother) to sign documents limiting her access to the money before Dickie reached eighteen, and for her, as Guardian, to quitclaim Dickie’s one- third of the estate. Tom was expected to sign the documents, too, purportedly containing his agreement to bequeath all of his one-half of his mother’s estate to Dickie upon Tom’s passing. It also gave rise to suspicion that Tom received at least my employer’s royalty checks all this time and had access to those revenues. None of the checks had been returned to date. The Guardian may have realized the total value of Dickie’s inheritance due to the Codicil. The Guardian possibly wasn’t budging from a high seven-figure demand for signing bonus. Talk about a solid gold carrot.
The company’s in-house counsel had the opinion that the equal distribution of real property in thirds could be challenged on several different grounds, according to him. He was of the opinion that the estate attorney could be waiting until the last minute to file the Will for probate, in case the Guardian didn’t sign the documents. In that case, he said, after admitting it to probate the estate attorney could immediately file a challenge to the Codicil on any one or all of the grounds that the in-house attorney thought could be successful. It could be dragged out for years, though. The account was suspended and the supporting documents were bundled into one pdf with a cover memo explaining everything in case I was no longer handling this area of properties when the matter concluded. Unfortunately, I left employment with that company before this issue was resolved. It was like listening to an entire, long-drawn-out joke and then missing the punch line. So who ever said division order work is boring? You never know what new “Peyton Place” is arriving in your inbox tomorrow.
About the Author: Marsha Breazeale
Marsha began her career in 1978 as a Rentals Secretary typing annual delay rental checks on a typewriter. Throughout the rapid changes in industry practices and technology since then, she has gained a great deal of knowledge
and skills in virtually all phases of Land Administration. She held CDOA and CPLTA certifications for many years, but upon “attempted” retirement decided to let them expire. Unwilling to leave behind the work she loves so much, she abandoned retirement and continues to work as a part-time division order analyst for Petroledger Accounting & Land. During her semi-retirement Marsha has worked the North Dakota Bakken and now works analyzing and entering DOIs for Texas horizontal wells using Quorum.
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The Revenue DOI, Horizontal Wells, and Unleased Mineral Owners in Texas By: Marsha Breazeale
well and is common in Texas.
The combination of database data entry requirements for horizontal wells containing unleased mineral owners presents a unique challenge for division order analysts when working Texas properties as opposed to properties in other oil and gas producing states. Other states almost always have easily available involuntary (forced) pooling available to operators, Texas does not. Don’t get me wrong, Texas does have forced pooling statutes but they are expensive and cumbersome to use. We will take a look at the three main areas that give division order analysts a challenge when a new-drill horizontal producing area contains unleased mineral owners. They are (1) the basic types of horizontal wells that are drilled, (2) the special considerations for unleased mineral interest owners (UMI owners) when a horizontal well is drilled, and (3) the special care analysts must take with some of the popular revenue distribution software systems when entering data for this type of well.
The third kind of horizontal well is the pooled, or unitized, horizontal well. Several individual tracts are pooled together to form a unitized area for production. This is a unitized horizontal well.
Unleased Mineral Interest Owners
UMIs in a one-tract horizontal well would be paid their proportionate, unleased interest (after 100% payout if they do not participate). There is no contract involved, so it doesn’t matter that they are not bound by it. Revenue distribution to a UMI in this type of horizontal well really is straight- forward. UMIs in an allocation horizontal well are a bit more complicated. Revenue distribution among all shareholders (owners) in an allocation well can be calculated based on any one of four scenarios in Texas. First, the distance between the first take point and the last take point is measured by a licensed surveyor. Then the surveyor measures each length of the lateral contained in each of the tracts involved, sometimes also stating the length in feet and assigning the percentage of the total wellbore length contained in each tract in each a separate legend or a call-out box in the as-drilled well plat. The revenue decimals for the owners in each tract then are proportionately reduced by the percentage of length of producing wellbore in that tract, by the division order analyst. The second acceptable method of allocating production between non-pooled tracts is much like the first, except it breaks apart the production lengths based on total length between point of entry into the producing zone (called the penetration point) and the end of the wellbore
Types of Horizontal Wells
There are three types of horizontal wells in Texas. The first is the one-tract horizontal well where the only tract involved is large enough that no pooling is needed. The first and last take points in the lateral are both inside the boundaries of the one tract. Rare, indeed, but it does happen. We’ll call this the one-tract horizontal. The next kind of horizontal well is the one that involves more than one tract but is not pooled. The first take point is in one leased tract and the last take point is in another tract. The horizontal wellbore lateral can begin in one tract, cross over into another tract, and even a third or fourth tract in some cases, before reaching the last take point. This type of well is called an allocation horizontal
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