Giacometto Ranch Inc. v. Denbury Onshore LLC

The court adopted the magistrate's findings and recommendations and granted the defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law.

A magistrate judge recommended that the defendants' motion for judgment of a matter of law be granted. Plaintiffs had not provided sufficient evidence to show that the defendants were permanently sequestering carbon dioxide in the plaintiff’s pore space. Further, the plaintiffs made an unjust enrichment claim based on the defendants allegedly profiting from carbon credits. The court, however, decided that the plaintiffs had not provided sufficient evidence to prove that the defendants were indeed utilizing carbon credits.

The plaintiffs, owners of a large cattle and farming ranch, leased the oil and mineral rights to the defendants, an oil and natural gas company. The parties agreed that the pore space belonged to the plaintiffs. The defendants injected carbon dioxide underground as part of enhanced oil recovery efforts. The plaintiffs claimed that the permanent sequestration of carbon dioxide constituted trespass into their pore space.