Gas Company’s North Dakota Oil Lease Recovery Appeal Deemed Moot

An oil and gas company won its bid to get rid of a federal district court decision that said it didn’t complete critical administrative processes before bringing its North Dakota lease case to court.

Prima Exploration Inc. told the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in a letter April 30 that the Interior Department’s Board of Indian Appeals’ “decision ends the administrative process, which cures any subject matter jurisdictional defect in the District Court” and asked for vacatur with remand.

The Eighth Circuit agreed, saying in its Monday judgment that the IBIA’s April 23 decision renders the appeal ...