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24 Hous. L. Rev. 665 (1987)
The Texas and Louisiana Anti-Indemnity Statutes as Applied to Oil and Gas Industry Offshore Contracts

handle is hein.journals/hulr24 and id is 677 raw text is: THE TEXAS AND LOUISIANA ANTI- INDEMNITY STATUTES AS APPLIED TO OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY OFFSHORE CONTRACTS Jeanmarie Brock Tade* INTRODUCTION The Texas and Louisiana anti-indemnity statutes' are a source of concern to all players in the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico ex- ploration and production arena. The concern from an energy com- pany's perspective is that these statutes may become applicable as federal law through a section of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA)2 and thus prevent companies from being indemni- fied against their own negligence in some contracts that pertain to activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This Article discusses each anti-indemnity statute and considers how the stat- utes interplay with the OCSLA and federal maritime law. Where appropriate, the author gives specific recommendations to energy companies. I STATE LAW A. Texas Law 1. Texas Indemnity Law. Under Texas law, parties have wide freedom to contract with respect to indemnification. Indemni- fication against the consequences of one's own negligence is not against public policy, but requires that such intent be expressed in specific terms.3 * B.A. William & Mary, J.D. University of Texas; Associate, Shannon & UstiCh, Hous- ton, Texas. 1. TEX. Civ. PRAc. & REm. CODE ANN. §§ 127.001-127.008 (Vernon 1986). L. Rsv. STAT. ANN. § 9:2780 (West Supp. 1987); 2. 43 U.S.C. § 1333(a)(2)(A) (1982 & Supp. Il 1985). 3. Ethyl Corp. v. Daniel Constr. Co., 725 S.W.2d 705, 708 (1987) (adopting the ex- press negligence test and rejecting the clear and unequivocal test as well as the three exceptions thereto). See Singleton v. Crown Cent. Petroleum Corp., 30 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 378 (Apr. 22, 1987). Previous to the Ethyl decision, indemnification against the consequences of

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