If you are involved in a royalty case, or plan to be, read Occidental Permian, Ltd. v. French et al. The appellate court decided there was no evidence to support the trial court’s findings that the lessors were underpaid. (See my too-long December 6 post for the underlying facts.) In this case the plaintiffs were
Underpaid Royalty Case Resolved in Favor of Lessee
One impediment to the correct resolution of lessors’ claims for unpaid royalties is the complexity of the contractual arrangements between producers and purchasers of production. Occidental Permian, Ltd. v. French et al offers a good example.
It is also a refresher on the basic rules of royalty calculation in Texas and, for royalty owners in