Solenex LLC v. Jewell

Case Updates

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that the Department of Interior arbitrarily and capriciously cancelled an oil and gas lease after delaying its process for nearly 30 years, ignoring reliance interests, and ignoring the impacts on government contracting and the government’s obligation to act in good faith.

The U.S. Chamber and Montana Petroleum Association filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to find unlawful the Secretary of the Interior’s unilateral and arbitrary cancellation of an oil and gas lease entered into under the Mineral Leasing Act. The brief explained that the Secretary’s action, which violates well-established principles of contract law and property rights, will discourage socially valuable government contracting by creating uncertainty as to the enforceability of government contracts. Further, the brief argued that such uncertainty would impede the efficient and effective delivery of systems and services to the federal government and also stall the development of federal natural resources upon which many economic sectors rely.

James W. Porter, III of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP served as counsel for the amici.