A pragmatic approach to decision making in the next era of oil and gas jurisprudence
Although the Great Era of the Oil and Gas Industry has ended, courts will continue to confront issues raised by the pursuit of these prized resources. A reassessment of the approaches used by courts in the past provides guidance to the lawyers, judges, and legislators who are charged with creating a coherent jurisprudence for oil and gas law, a jurisprudence that respects precedent and legislative mandates, but also responds to contemporary policy considerations. During the Great Era, courts frequently frustrated industry goals and created confusion for property owners and developers with approaches that myopically ignored relevant policies or surreptitiously masked the role of policy in formalistic garb. The continued use of those misguided approaches deprives oil and gas jurisprudence of the {open_quotes}practical certainty{close_quotes} needed to enable property owners and other actors in the industry efficiently to order their conduct. As politics continue to stymy legislative resolutions to controversies caused by shifting policies and new technologies, the burden will continue to fall upon the courts. To avoid the counterproductive effects of approaches to decision making that fail pointedly to address the role of prevailing policy, judges should adopt a pragmatic process. This process must first, identify goals and policy conflicts. Second, it must assess the effects of available courses of action. Finally, it must adopt standards or rules to clarify the relative rights of property owners and developers. Indeed, clarifying rights and liabilities through legislation and judical decisions should be the ultimate goal for the next era of oil and gas jurisprudence.
- OSTI ID:
- 478287
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Energy, Natural Resources amp Environmental Law, Vol. 16, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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