| name | joint-operating-agreement |
| title | Joint Operating Agreement |
| description | Drafts U.S. Joint Operating Agreements (JOA) for oil and gas exploration, development, and production. Covers party structure, operator authority, AFE workflow, cost allocation, billing and audit rights, title and lien protections, default remedies, and governing-law provisions. Use when drafting, negotiating, or finalizing a JOA, joint account agreement, non-consent election, operator designation, participating interest schedule, or memorandum of operating agreement. |
| author | CaseMark |
| author_url | https://github.com/CaseMark/skills/tree/main/skills/legal/joint-operating-agreement |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| execution_mode | open |
| jurisdiction | us |
| practice | energy |
| language | en |
| tags | ["agreement","drafting","regulatory"] |
Joint Operating Agreement
Drafts a clause-complete, execution-ready U.S. Joint Operating Agreement covering economics, operator authority, title protections, and enforcement rights for oil and gas operations.
Prerequisites
- Party identities — legal name, entity type, state of formation, registered agent, signatory authority for each party
- Contract Area — lease and mineral title chain, legal descriptions or section data, gross/net acreage, term/extension history
- Economics — participating interest, revenue interest, burdens (ORR, NPI, production payments), non-cash considerations
- Operator role map — Operator designation, compensation model, overhead structure, voting thresholds, approval workflow
- Regulatory baseline — jurisdiction state, federal land status, unitization/pooling framework, environmental or foreign-ownership constraints
- AFE governance — routine vs non-routine definitions, non-consent mechanics, force-majeure approach
- Finance terms — billing cycle, late-payment interest, audit rights, overhead model, dispute escalation
- Execution details — governing law/forum, dispute mechanism, recording jurisdictions, title standards
Output Structure
Article Outline
| Article | Content |
|---|
| I. Parties and Contract Area | Party schedule, legal descriptions, acreage, term |
| II. Organization and Operator Authority | Operator duties, authority limits, prohibited actions, removal |
| III. Operations and AFE Governance | AFE workflow, routine/non-routine thresholds, non-consent penalties, buy-in |
| IV. Financial Management | Cost categories (capex/opex/direct/indirect), billing, audit rights, payment default |
| V. Title and Interests | Title standards, opinion process, curative rights, lien attachment and foreclosure |
| VI. Product Handling and Marketing | Delivery points, in-kind elections, imbalance settlement |
| VII. Defaults, Remedies, and Survival | Cure periods, remedy stack (advance → lien → foreclosure), succession |
| VIII. Execution, Assignment, and Governing Law | Assignment consent, integration, amendment, dispute resolution, recordation |
Required Exhibits
