Abstract
This Comment examines the six year litigation between Coastal Petroleum and the State of Florida over a vast lease of oil drilling rights that the State and Coastal negotiated almost half a century ago. Coastal Petroleum argues that Florida's 1990 offshore ban on oil drilling deprives the company of its property rights. The company also argues that it should not be required to post an enormous security bond in order to obtain its drilling permit for the leased area. The Comment analyzes five different legal doctrines that might be asserted in litigation: (1) Submerged Lands Act; (2) public trust doctrine; (3) vested rights; (4) Fifth Amendment takings; and (5) substantive due process. The author concludes that to the detriment of Florida's valuable natural resources, Coastal probably has a better chance at winning the litigation.
Recommended Citation
Braslow, Leigh Derenne
(2018)
"Coastal Petroleum's Fight to Drill Off Florida's Gulf Coast,"
Florida State University Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law: Vol. 12:
No.
2, Article 6.
Available at:
https://ir.law.fsu.edu/jluel/vol12/iss2/6