Justiss Oil Co. v. Oil Country Tubular Corp.

• Decision Date: 05 April 2017
• Docket Number: 15–1148
• Citation: 216 So.3d 346
• Parties: JUSTISS OIL COMPANY, INC. v. OIL COUNTRY TUBULAR CORPORATION, et al
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

216 So.3d 346

JUSTISS OIL COMPANY, INC.

v.OIL COUNTRY TUBULAR CORPORATION, et al

15–1148

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

April 5, 2017

Robert E. Kerrigan, Isaac H. Ryan, Deutsch Kerrigan L.L.P., 725 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, (504) 581–5141, Douglas K. Williams, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P., P.O. Box 3197, Baton Rouge, LA 70821–3197, (504) 619–1800, ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT, Oil Country Tubular Corporation and North American Interpipe, Inc.

Jimmy R. Faircloth, Jr., Barbara B. Melton, Christie C. Wood, Brook L. Villa, Faircloth, Melton & Sobel, L.L.C., 105 Yorktown Drive, Alexandria, LA 71303, (318) 619–7755, and Donald R. Wilson, R. Joseph Wilson, Wilson & Wilson, P.O. Box 1346, Jena, LA 71342, (318) 992–2104, ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE, Justiss Oil Company, Inc.

Court composed of Judges Sylvia R. Cooks, John D. Saunders, Elizabeth A. Pickett, John E. Conery and Kent D. Savoie.

Cooks, Judge

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Justiss Oil Company, Inc. (Justiss) (Plaintiff) and MidStates Petroleum Company, L.L.C. (MidStates) entered into an International Association of Drilling Contractors Model Turnkey Drilling Contract¹ for an oil well² in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana for the sum of $2,836,733.00. The contract specified the 15,000 foot deep well would have a bore hole lined with a 7 ? inch pipe casing to a depth of 12,500 feet. The remaining 2,500 feet would be drilled without casing (referred to in the industry as "open hole"). Drilling pipe reaching a bottom hole diameter of 6 ½ inches would be run inside the intermediate casing down to 12,500 feet. In preparation for drilling the well, Justiss purchased 12,500 feet of intermediate casing pipe from Oil Country Tubular Co. (Oil Country)(Defendant). The intermediate casing was manufactured by North American Interpipe, Inc. (NAI)(Defendant). Justiss purchased what is commonly referred to in the industry as "buttress thread" casing pipe with a burst pressure rating of 12,600 pounds per square inch ("psi").³ Oil Country did not have enough LTC pipe on hand to string the entire depth needed but could provide Justiss with enough buttress thread casing pipe to complete its drilling project. Justiss preferred to use the same type of pipe for the entire string of casing to the 12,500 foot depth required and therefore opted to purchase the buttress thread casing pipe. Oil Country represented to Justiss the intermediate casing pipe was "API certified pipe," meaning it met the standards required by the American Petroleum Institute for casing and tubing pipe to be used in oil drilling operations. Oil Country's owner, Mr. J.C. Gallet, represented to Justiss that this buttress thread pipe was fit for the use intended by Justiss as intermediate casing pipe. The pipe was rated as API 5CT, meaning the pipe would hold at least 10,000 psi for 5 seconds and has a burst pressure of 12,600 psi. North American stated in its invoices the pipe was certified API 5CT and provided mill certificates certifying each joint of pipe.

Both Justiss' and Defendants' experts agreed that this type of buttress thread pipe was appropriate for use as intermediate casing in the proposed Musser–Davis 34–1 well. Dr. Robert W. Nicholson, Phd. (Nicholson) was accepted as an expert witness in petroleum engineering with emphasis on design, planning and on-site management of drilling operations. He testified buttress thread pipe was developed in the 1950's as a more robust drilling pipe than the eight-round thread. According to this expert, buttress thread pipe has two important advantages, greater tensile strength and a higher collapse rating. He explained that with improved technology wells could be set at deeper depths. But to reach these depths safely, a pipe with greater tensile rating and greater collapse rating was needed. Buttress thread pipe was developed for these purposes and according to his testimony has proven to be "extremely useful" for deeper drilling. He further testified the API 5CT specification for buttress thread pipe is "very precise" as to how the threads are to be cut in order for the pipe to have the appropriate tensile strength and collapse rating. According to his expert testimony, if the threads are not manufactured properly the pipe can leak and/or it can pull apart. He also testified the pipe purchased by Justiss was certified as API 5CT, which certifies to a purchaser that the pipe "has been manufactured, sampled, tested, and inspected in accordance with API 5CT." This informs the purchaser that this pipe has a particular burst rating, a certain tensile strength, a certain collapse rating, and a particular chemical composition indicating its strength and suitability for drilling a deep well like Musser–Davis 34–1. When experts tested a sampling of pipes from the same batch of pipe purchased by Justiss they found an abnormally high percent of the pipe was defective. In their opinion these defective pipes would leak and would not hold pressure to the certified level. Of the fourteen hundred fifty-seven joints of pipe tested two hundred two were rejected. Their finding showed almost fourteen percent of the batch tested was rejected as defective as opposed to the normal industry rate of two percent.

Justiss began its drilling operation for Musser–Davis 34–1 by drilling a hole in which it inserted a 10 ? inch surface casing pipe which commenced at the earthen surface of the proposed well down to a depth of 3400 feet. Next, the driller hired by Justiss began drilling a 12,500 foot bore hole which would accommodate the 7 ? inch intermediate casing pipe. Upon reaching a depth of 12,269 feet, Justiss inserted the intermediate casing pipe and then cemented the intermediate casing into the hole according to its normal operating procedures. At this time Justiss was not aware of defects in the intermediate casing pipe. While cementing the intermediate casing in the hole, Justiss repaired a hole in the surface casing so as to avoid any possibility of contaminating ground water by leakage of drilling fluid from such a hole in the surface casing. This was accomplished by inserting a diverter tool which diverted cement upward between the surface casing and intermediate casing which both filled the hole in the surface casing and added stability. Defendant's expert agreed that once casing is cemented in the hole it cannot be removed.

In accordance with its planned procedures for drilling Musser–Davis 34–1, Justiss initiated pressure tests on the intermediate casing. The casing pipe has a burst pressure of 12,600 psi, meaning if it exceeds that pressure during drilling operations it will fail, creating a dangerous situation for workers and the well. The hydrostatic columns of drilling mud in the casing needed to safely drill this well created about 9,000 psi of pressure. Because the casing pipe could not hold sufficient pressure above this requirement the driller attempted to proceed using a lighter weight drilling mud hoping the combined lower pressure in the pipe would keep it from bursting or pulling apart. Using the lighter drilling mud posed risks in controlling the well and avoiding a blowout because upward pressure from salt water continually increases as drilling reaches ever deeper depths. Justiss proceeded with caution attempting to safely make use of the defective pipe. Justiss' five week effort to work around the defective pipe proved to be of no avail, and when conditions became too dangerous to continue, Justiss capped the well to safeguard its workers and the environment.

During the drilling operations, after the intermediate casing pipe was cemented in the hole it failed to hold pressure to the certified level. Justiss tested the casing to determine if it would test to 2,500 psi above the drilling mud pressure for a total pressure of 11,500 psi, leaving a margin of error of 1,100 psi before the pipe would fail. During this testing the pipe would not hold pressure above 1,020 psi. Under its turnkey contract with MidStates, Justiss was not compensated for this effort in failing to drill Musser–Davis 34–1 resulting in financial losses. Justiss sued the manufacturer of the pipe, NAI, and Oil Country, from whom it purchased the pipe, for redhibition of the sale and damages.

The jury returned its verdict through responses to a special verdict form. It determined that Justiss proved by "a preponderance of the evidence that the [pipe] was defective." This finding of fact was not appealed by Defendants. Having answered this question in the affirmative, the jury proceeded as instructed to the next interrogatory indicating it found "by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendants are liable in a claim of redhibition to Justiss Oil Company[.]" Despite these determinations the jury did not then determine the statutory damages due Justiss as a result of the redhibitory defect in the casing pipe. Instead, as instructed by the jury form, the jury proceeded to question number three finding the redhibitory defect in the casing pipe did not "proximately cause any damages sustained by Justiss Oil Company at the Musser–Davis 34–1 well[.]" Proceeding on to question four, the jury found "Justiss Oil Company's negligence proximately contribute[d] to its own damages sustained at the Musser–Davis 34–1 well[.]" Having made this finding, the jury then assigned ten per cent (10%) fault to Oil Country and ninety per cent (90%) fault to Justiss. Finally, the jury awarded $250,000 in damages as fair and reasonable compensation to Justiss. This sum was reduced by the 90% fault assigned to Justiss by the jury. In its reason for judgment the trial court found the jury form was "confusing and resulted in a contradictory and nonsensical verdict."

Justiss filed a Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV) which was granted by the trial court. Defendants also filed a Motion for JNOV which was subsequently withdrawn, and both parties represented to the trial court a new...