Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC v. Texas Brine Company, LLC ( 2019 )

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL
FIRST CIRCUIT
NUMBER 2018 CA 1778
FLORIDA GAS TRANSMISSION COMPANY, LLC
VERSUS
TEXAS BRINE COMPANY, LLC, ET AL.
Judgment Rendered:
DEC 2 7 2019
Appealed from the
Twenty- third Judicial District Court
In and for the Parish of Assumption
State of Louisiana
Suit Number 34, 316
Honorable Thomas J. Kliebert, Jr., Presiding
Leopold Z. Sher Counsel for Appellant/Defendant/
James M. Garner Third -party Plaintiff
Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Texas Brine Company, LLC
Jeffrey D. Kessler
David A. Freedman
New Orleans, LA
Robert Ryland Percy, III
Gonzales, LA
James E. Kuhn
Ponchatoula, LA
Travis J. Turner
Gonzales, LA
Dane S. Ciolino
Metairie, LA
Joseph L. Shea, Jr. Counsel for Appellee/Third-party Defendant
Katherine Smith Baker Reliance Petroleum Corporation
Joshua S. Chevallier
Ashley G. Gable
Shreveport, LA
Matthew J. Randazzo, III Counsel for Appellees/ Third-party Defendants
Christopher B. Bailey LORCA Corporation and Colorado Crude
Will Montz Company
Lafayette, LA
Frank H. Spruiell, Jr. Counsel for Appellee/ Third-party Defendant
Reid A. Jones Sol Kirschner
Seth M. Moyers
Shreveport, LA
Martin A. Stern Counsel for Appellees/ Defendants/ Third-party
Leigh Ann Schell Defendants
Raymond P. Ward Occidental Chemical Corporation, Occidental
Sara C. Valentine Petroleum Corporation, Basic Chemicals
New Orleans, LA Company, LLC, and Occidental VCM, LLC
Kathy Patrick
Angus J. Dodson
Laura J. Kissel
Houston, TX
Sidney W. Degan, III Counsel for Appellee/Third-party Defendant
Julia A. Dietz Chicago Insurance Company
Wade B. Hammett
Matthew F. Morgan
New Orleans, LA
BEFORE: GUIDRY, McDONALD, AND PENZATO, JJ.
2
GUIDRY, J.
Texas Brine Company, LLC, the operator of a brine production well known as
Oxy Geismer #3 ( OG3 well) in Assumption Parish, appeals from a September 20, 2017
judgment granting partial summary judgment in favor of LORCA Corporation,
Colorado Crude Company, Sol Kirschner, Reliance Petroleum Corporation, and its
insurer, Chicago Insurance Company, the non -operators of the nearby Adams Hooker
41 oil and gas well ( AH1 well), and dismissing Texas Brine' s third -party contract
claims against them. This court previously affirmed the dismissal of Texas Brine' s
third -party tort claims, including indemnity and contribution claims, against the non -
operators of the AH1 well in Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC v. Texas Brine
Company, LLC, 18- 0549 (La. App. 1st Cir. 7/ 1/ 19), 2019WL2723560, writ denied, 19-
01227 ( La. 10/ 15/ 19), 280 So. 3d 611 ( unpublished opinion).'
In Crosstex Energy Services, LP V. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 18- 1213 ( La.
App. 1st Cir. 7/ 11/ 19), 2019WL3049762 (unpublished opinion), writ denied, 19- 01126
La. 7/ 17/ 19), 277 So. 3d 1180, another panel of this court decided an identical appeal
concerning the dismissal of Texas Brine' s third -party contract claims against the AHI
well non -operators. Although Crosstex involves a different pipeline plaintiff than in
the case sub judice, the Crosstex summary judgment dismissed the same Texas Brine
third -party contract demands against the AH 1 well non -operators that Texas Brine now
challenges in this appeal. 2
After a thorough review of the record, we find no material distinctions between
the evidence and arguments asserted in this appeal and in Crosstex, which we are bound
In its brief to this court, Texas Brine again assigns as error the dismissal of its third -party tort claims
against the AHI well non -operators. However, because this issue has been previously addressed and
affirmed by this court, we will not reconsider it in this appeal.
2 In Crosstex, this court affirmed the dismissals of all but one non -operator, Colorado Crude Company,
because the record in that particular case did not show that Colorado Crude had moved for summary
judgment on Texas Brine' s breach of contract claims. Crosstex, 2019WL3049762 at * 5. In the case
before us, however, pursuant to district court order, the appellate record was supplemented on August
27, 2019, with Colorado Crude' s joinder in Browning Oil Company, Inc. and LORCA Corporation' s
motion for partial summary judgment regarding Texas Brine' s breach of contract claims.
3
to follow as the law of this circuit. See Pontchartrain Natural Gas System v. Texas
Brine Company, LLC, 18- 0001 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 6/ 4/ 18), 253 So. 3d 156, writ denied,
18- 1124 ( La. 9/ 28/ 18), 253 So. 3d 147. Thus, we affirm the district court' s September
20, 2017 judgment dismissing Texas Brine' s third -party contract claims against
LORCA Corporation, Colorado Crude Company, Sol Kirschner, Reliance Petroleum
Corporation, and Chicago Insurance Company. We issue this summary disposition in
accordance with Uniform Rules— Courts of Appeal, Rule 2- 16. 2( A)(2) and ( 6), and we
assess all costs of this appeal to Texas Brine Company, LLC. Further, we grant
Colorado Crude Company' s pending motion to file a supplemental brief.
PENDING MOTION TO FILE SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF GRANTED;
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
Cl