Case Update: Texas Supreme Court Issues Opinion in Cactus v. COG case

The Supreme Court of Texas issued an opinion June 27, 2025 in the high-profile Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating matter, which decided who owns produced water arising from a hydraulic fracturing operation. Hogan Thompson Schuelke previously drafted the amicus brief on behalf of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, which argued the Appellant’s position on produced water from oil and gas operations would upend the State of Texas’s regulatory regime and threaten the continued operations of nearly every oil and gas producer in the State.  The Court affirmed the Eighth Court of Appeals’ judgment “that COG, not Cactus, has the right to possession, custody, control, and disposition of the constituent water in the liquid waste from its hydrocarbon production.”

Hogan Thompson Schuelke was honored to work with the Texas Oil & Gas Association again in drafting an amicus brief for the case. TXOGA is a statewide trade association representing every facet of the Texas oil and natural gas industry, including small independents and major producers. Collectively, the membership of TXOGA produces approximately 90 percent of Texas’ crude oil and natural gas, operates nearly 90 percent of the state’s refining capacity, and is responsible for the vast majority of the state’s pipelines. In fiscal year 2022, the Texas oil and natural gas industry supported 443,000 direct jobs and paid $24.7 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties, funding our state’s schools, roads and first responders.