In Discovery Operating, Inc., v. BP America Production Co., the Texas Eleventh Court of Appeals recently held that a producer can bring a negligence per se claim – for violating a state regulation prohibiting waste – against the owner of a nearby injection well for damages sustained when the producer encountered a highly pressurized flow of brine water while drilling an oil well. See here (Case Nos. 11-08-00127-CV and 11-08-00171-CV). The primary factual issue: Whether BP’s injection of brine at a depth of about 6,100 feet into the War-San San Andres reservoir really caused the water flow encountered by Discovery at a depth of 3,895 feet nearly one mile away.
The matter has been remanded for a new trial.