Texas courts continue to address the “fixed or floating” non-participating royalty interest question. The El Paso Court of Appeals’ answer in Bridges v. Uhl et al. was floating, based on the language in that particular reservation,
In 1940 the Klattenhoffs sold a 640-acre tract in Upton County to Virgil Powell, reserving, “an
The question in Brooke-Willbanks v. Flatland Mineral Fund LP, et al was which party to a Texas mineral deed would bear the burden of two previously reserved nonparticipating royalty interests.
The facts
Kay Brooke-Wilbanks owned a 45/100 mineral interest in 320 acres in Howard County, which is equivalent of an undivided 144-acre mineral interest. Her
Co-author Rusty TuckerBlueStone Nat. Res. II, LLC v. Nettye Engler Energy, LP is another Texas case deciding whether language creating a nonparticipating royalty interest prohibited deduction of post-production costs. (Spoiler alert: it didn’t. Read on to learn why.)
The Deed
By a 1986 Deed Engler’s predecessors conveyed land to BlueStone’s predecessor. Grantor reserved an undivided 1/8th NPRI in the minerals and was entitled to 1/8th of gross production, “ … to be delivered to Grantor’s credit, free of cost in the pipe line, if any, otherwise free of cost at the mouth of the well or mine … .” (emphasis ours).
Continue Reading Texas NPRI Burdened with Post-Production Costs
Co-author Chance DeckerThe Texas Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in three intriguing oil and gas cases. Here’s what you need to know about two of them (We’ll address the third case soon).
Adams v. Murphy Exploration & Production Co. USA
Did lessee Murphy comply with an offset-well clause that doesn’t state where the offset-well must be drilled? When a well was drilled on an adjacent tract, Murphy drilled its offset-well more than 2,000 feet from the triggering well.
Continue Reading Opinions to Expect From the Texas Supreme Court
You are negotiating to take a big oil and gas lease. The run sheets show you are dealing with an executive right owner on behalf of himself and his NPRI owner. His proposed terms are odd: a lower-than-market royalty and a higher-than-market bonus. After reflecting, you get it: The terms aren’t odd; they are just
The duty owed by the executive right holder to its non-participating royalty interest holder in Texas, long haunted by the ghost of Clinton Manges, is again examined. From KCM Financial, et al. v. Bradshaw and its precursors …
We Know This:
With apologies to Click and Clack, from time to time I will post “puzzlers”, questions about title and similar issues that have no apparent answer. Here is the first one:
Joe Bob Joiner owns a non-participating royalty interest under a tract. The amount of interest he owns is tied to the amount of royalty stated