Eric Ocwieja

Eric Ocwieja concentrates his practice on oil and gas law and title opinions in the Bakken and Williston Basin across North Dakota and Montana. He built his practice on giving landmen and other clients fast, pragmatic answers when a quick decision is what is needed.

Quick, practical answers for clients

Most of what Eric handles outside title opinions are calls from clients navigating a specific title or contractual issue or conflict. He walks the decision maker through the situation quickly, including his own read on which way it is likely to go, giving quick, actionable information.

An in-house perspective

Eric spent twelve years as an in-house landman and land manager at Occidental Petroleum, Oasis, and other E&P’s. Several of his clients who call him today once worked alongside him. That background gives him a working knowledge of how E&P’s operate internally, what management expects to see, and how tight the turnaround should be once a decision maker needs an answer. Clients and other attorneys often call him for a quick, confident read on a question rather than a drawn-out analysis, the kind of comfort with risk that comes from years spent in house.

Well inventory, water supply and other emerging issues

Eric believes that advances in technology and cost efficiency will continue to make previously “lower tier” acreage economic sooner than operators once expected. Fresh water supply and produced water disposal capacity will continue to be real constraints on how quickly operators can keep developing acreage, on top of the ongoing issue about communication between adjacent wells. He is licensed in Texas, North Dakota, Michigan and Wyoming, and while his day-to-day work is primarily concentrated in the Williston Basin, he maintains his practice in other basins including the Permian.