The national rig count posted another gain since our last report as did the Henry Hub spot price while the Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks landed at $50/bbl after a fairly volatile week. In Appalachia, the West Virginia federal court concluded that a holder of an override isn’t “indispensable” to a dispute over the underlying lease for purposes of subject matter jurisdiction.  Elsewhere, a TX federal court denied a bid to dismiss securities claims against BP for public statements about the flow rate of the Deepwater Horizon spill that allegedly defrauded the market, and a Montana court upheld a lease-busting attempt based on late pooling.  Here’s your week in review: About The Author

The national rig count posted its first gain in a long time – up 4 units since our last report – while the Henry Hub spot prices “soared” past $2 (“soared” being a relative term these days). The Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks hovered just below $50/bbl as of Friday amidst the spike in the rig count. In Appalachia, the Third Circuit held that trucking companies hauling frac water can’t dodge overtime pay while a federal judge shut down another lease busting attempt.  Elsewhere, the Texas Supreme Court issued a couple of anticipated decisions – one involving a trade secret battle and another involving a dispute over the relative rights of surface owners and owners of water rights…