Thirteenth Court Reverses Summary Judgment on JOA Operator's Duty to Commence Drilling Operations After All Parties Consent

The Corpus Christi-Edinburg Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's ruling that an operator's failure to timely commence proposed drilling operations in the Sugarloaf Prospect Area was not a breach of a 1982 AAPL-form JOA where all parties had elected to participate. The dispute centered on whether Article VI.B.1's resubmittal provision provided the exclusive remedy when Burlington Resources refused to drill wells, despite having elected to participate and the absence of force majeure conditions.