Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States

105 Fed. Cl. 37, 178 Oil & Gas Rep. 278, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 458, 2012 WL 1571004
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMay 2, 2012
DocketNo. 00-512L
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 105 Fed. Cl. 37 (Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, 105 Fed. Cl. 37, 178 Oil & Gas Rep. 278, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 458, 2012 WL 1571004 (uscfc 2012).

Opinion

[40]*40OPINION

ALLEGRA, Judge:

Defendant has moved to dismiss plaintiffs complaint under RCFC 12(b)(1), asserting that the prior filing of a district court action deprived this court of jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1500. For the reasons that follow, the court GRANTS, in part, and DENIES, in part, this motion.

I. BACKGROUND1

From November 1934 through January 1937, Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc. (Bodcaw Lumber), and Grant Timber & Manufacturing Company of Louisiana, Inc. (Grant Timber) conveyed the surface estates of 180,000 non-contiguous acres to the United States Forest Service (the Forest Service) for the creation of the Kisatchie National Forest. The eleven instruments of transfer all expressly excluded the mineral seivitudes, which the grantors reserved for Good Pine Oil, a joint venture created by Bodcaw Lumber, Grant Timber, and three other lumber companies. In 1940, the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 315, creating an exception to the state’s ten-year mineral prescription law and making mineral rights underlying land conveyed to the United States “imprescriptible.” In 1942, Nebo Oil Company acquired all of the mineral rights formerly held by Good Pine Oil.

In 1948, the United States filed a quite title action in district court to determine the owner of a particular mineral servitude underlying a parcel that was a part of the 180,000 acre tract Bodcaw Lumber and Grant Timber granted to the United States. In 1950, a Louisiana district court, relying on Louisiana’s Act 315, held that the owner of the mineral servitude was an owner in perpetuity. United States v. Nebo Oil Co., 90 F.Supp. 73 (W.D.La.1950). The Fifth Circuit affirmed the finding that the mineral servi-tudes were imprescriptible and belonged to Nebo Oil. United States v. Nebo Oil Co., 190 F.2d 1003 (5th Cir.1951).

Two decades later, in a 1973 ease with similar facts, the Supreme Court held that Act 315 was hostile to the United States’ interests and could not be borrowed as a rule of decision in federal court. United States v. Little Lake Misere Land Co., Inc., 412 U.S. 580, 604, 93 S.Ct. 2389, 37 L.Ed.2d 187 (1973). Relying on this decision, in 1991, the United States began granting mineral leases on Forest Service lands it had acquired from Bodcaw Lumber and Grant Timber. In 1998, Petro-Hunt L.L.C. (Petro-Hunt or plaintiff) became the record holder of a 64.3 percent undivided interest in the mineral ser-vitudes previously owned by Nebo Oil.

On February 18, 2000, Petro-Hunt — along with two other oil and gas companies — filed suit against the United States in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Their complaint requested a declaratory judgment quieting their title to the property, but alternatively asserted “that the actions of the United States in confiscating their mineral interests amounts to an unconstitutional taking in direct violation of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, for which Plaintiffs should be compensated.” In its June 5, 2000, response to this complaint, the United States asserted that the district court lacked jurisdiction to declare an unconstitutional takings and award compensation. On August 24, 2000, Petro-Hunt filed a complaint in this court alleging a Fifth Amendment takings. On October 31, 2000, the parties filed a joint motion to stay the case in this court pending resolution of the district court action. That motion was granted by this court on November 2, 2000. On June 29, 2001, plaintiff filed its first amended complaint in the district court, which still included an “alternative” request for relief, stating that “in the event that Plaintiffs are not found to be entitled to the declaratory relief sought above, Plaintiffs pray for a money judgment against the United States of America in an amount that will represent just compensation for the unconstitutional taking of the Plaintiffs’ Mineral [41]*41Rights in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

The District Court for the Western District of Louisiana initially granted plaintiffs motion for summary judgment on res judica-ta grounds, Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, 179 F.Supp.2d 669 (W.D.La.2001), but the Fifth Circuit reversed, finding that the 1950 opinion had only decided the ownership of the single parcel at issue in that case. Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, 365 F.3d 385 (5th Cir.2004). On remand, the parties stipulated that Petro-Hunt retained control of only the Nebo Oil servitude and five others that had remained in use, constituting approximately 109,844.5 acres, while the United States had gained ownership of the remaining ninety servitudes through prescription. The Fifth Circuit affirmed a final judgment giving effect to this stipulation, Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, — Fed.Appx. - (5th Cir.2007), and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on March 30, 2008. Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, 552 U.S. 1242, 128 S.Ct. 1471, 170 L.Ed.2d 296 (2008).

On May 27, 2008, the court lifted the stay in this case. On June 25, 2008, plaintiff filed an amended seven-count complaint asserting permanent and temporary takings, breaches of the original land conveyance contract, and breaches of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. On September 2, 2008, defendant filed a motion to dismiss, or, alternatively, for summary judgment. On November 6, 2009, the court granted, in part, and denied, in part, defendant’s motion to dismiss. It dismissed plaintiffs permanent takings claims and those of its temporary takings claims that were untimely under the six-year limitations period found in 28 U.S.C. § 2501, but found that plaintiff could assert temporary takings claims as to the fifty-six mineral leases executed within the limitations period. Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, 90 Fed.Cl. 51 (2009). On September 16, 2010, plaintiff filed a “Restated Second Amended Complaint” with three counts, deleting the dismissed claims (while reserving the right to later appeal this court’s decision) and adding a judicial takings claim based upon the Supreme Court’s decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Env’l Protection, — U.S. -, 130 S.Ct. 2592, 177 L.Ed.2d 184 (2010).

On March 12, 2010, the court set a discovery schedule, with discovery to be completed by July 15, 2011. On December 22, 2010, the court extended this completion date to January 12, 2012. On May 31, 2011, defendant filed a motion to dismiss this cases for lack of jurisdiction under RCFC 12(b)(1). Defendant contends that this court lacks jurisdiction over this matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1500. Briefing and argument of this motion have now been completed.2

II. DISCUSSION

Deciding a motion to dismiss “starts with the complaint, which must be well-pleaded in that it must state the necessary elements of the plaintiffs claim, independent of any defense that may be interposed.” Holley v. United States, 124 F.3d 1462, 1465 (Fed.Cir.1997);

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
105 Fed. Cl. 37, 178 Oil & Gas Rep. 278, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 458, 2012 WL 1571004, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petro-hunt-llc-v-united-states-uscfc-2012.