Texas Crude and Warwick sued Burlington after it refused to drill 44 proposed wells, claiming it would be "imprudent." Court ruled operator must drill when all parties consent.
Protecting proprietary information is a key concern for many businesses, and issues can arise when employees transition between competitors.
Mineral owners are often subject to general oil and gas lease forms that include provisions benefitting the surface estate. But, when they own no interest in the surface, who, if anyone, has the right to enforce those provisions?
The issue in this case was whether South Texas Pipelines LLC (“STX”), a subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners L.P., had the power of eminent domain to condemn an easement across the appellants’ (“Landowners”) land for a new pipeline to transport polymer grade propylene (PGP).
Following the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling in Van Dyke v. Navigator Group that courts interpreting “antiquated instruments” that use 1/8 within a double fraction must begin with the rebuttable presumption that 1/8 refers to the entire mineral estate, Texas courts have wrestled with its implications.
The legacy doctrine recognizes that during the “era” in which the deed in question was executed, “‘1/8’ was widely used as a term of art to refer to the total mineral estate.”
