Etter v. Texaco, Inc.

371 S.W.2d 702, 20 Oil & Gas Rep. 97, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1722
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 3, 1963
Docket4153
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 371 S.W.2d 702 (Etter v. Texaco, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Etter v. Texaco, Inc., 371 S.W.2d 702, 20 Oil & Gas Rep. 97, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1722 (Tex. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinion

WILSON, Justice.

The trial court concluded that the instrument quoted below was a conveyance to appellees’ predecessor in title of a perpetual undivided non-participating royalty interest entitling them to a royalty of ¼ of ⅛, or a ⅝2 interest in production under a subsequent lease held by Texaco and all future leases. We reverse this portion of the judgment.

The original instrument is lost. It was recorded in the two counties where the land is situated, and certified copies from these two counties vary in punctuation and immaterial respects. Appellees assert and *704 appellants concede a printed form was used, a prototype of which is in the record, The instrument is substantially as follows, the typed portions being italicized:

“C-90. Royalty Contract Palestine Printing Co-5871 The State of Texas 1 [ KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS: County of Leon J
That we A. Rabe & wife Medie Rabe, of the County of Freestone, State of Texas, have and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, convey, set over and assign and deliver unto /. W. Barton the following to wit: 1/32 int or 1/4 of 1/8 interest in and to all of the oil, gas and other minerals in and under and that may be produced from the following described lands situated in Leon & Freestone County, Texas, to-zvif’ (description, "to place of beginning/’). The said A Rabe NOW occupies said property. together with the right of ingress and egress at all times for the purpose of mining, drilling and exploring said lands for oil, gas and other minerals, and removing the same therefrom.
“And said above described lands being now under an oil and gas lease originally executed in favor of Keechi Pet. Co. and now held by Keechi Pet. Co., it is understood and agreed that this sale is made subject to said lease, but covers and includes one fourth of all the oil royalty and gas rental or royalty due and to be paid under the terms of said lease.
“It is agreed and understood that all of the money rentals which may be paid to extend the term within which a well may be begun under the terms of said lease is to be paid to the said A. Rabe, and in the event that the said above described lease for any reason becomes cancelled or forfeited, then and in that event, the lease interests and all future rentals on said land, for oil, gas and mineral privileges shall be owned by A. Rabe.”

Following the quoted language, the next portion of the printed form was deleted by typewriter: “and . each owning . interest in all oil, gas and other minerals in and upon said land together with . interest in all future rents.” The recited consideration was $800. There followed habendum and general warranty clauses.

The Keechi lease referred to in the instrument was released, and is not involved. Texaco became assignee of an oil, gas and mineral lease describing the same property subsequently executed by Rabe and others, in which a royalty of one-eighth was reserved. Texaco filed a bill of in-terpleader asserting conflicting claims to royalty, and sought a declaratory judgment ■construing the quoted instrument, declaring interests and establishing the division boundary line in a survey. That portion of the judgment relating to the boundary is not complained of, and is undisturbed. Appellants deraign interest through grant- or Rabe; appellees through the grantee, Barton.

The quoted instrument fits with precision the pattern of the holding and the instrument construed in Delta Drilling Co. v. Simmons, 161 Tex. 122, 338 S.W.2d 143, 146, which governs our decision. Under it, the present instrument conveyed to Barton an undivided ⅜2 interest in and to the oil, gas and other minerals in place, with a corresponding and incident ⅜2 of the royalty reserved in subsequent leases. Except for difference in the fractional interest in the minerals conveyed, the deletion of the ownership and future rents clause and immaterial variations to be noticed, the quoted in *705 strument is in effect identical to that in the Simmons case. We construe this as the Supreme Court interpreted that conveyance.

Since grantor, as in the Simmons case, reserved the “lease interests” upon termination of the Keechi lease, he retained the right to lease the ⅜2 mineral interest conveyed to Barton. Barton’s successors are “entitled to the royalty provided in the lease” acquired by Texaco to the extent of that ⅝2 interest. Delta Drilling Co. v. Simmons, 161 Tex. 122, 338 S.W.2d 143 at 146.

We refer briefly to appellees’ arguments to the contrary:

(1) They rely on Garrett v. Dils Company, 157 Tex. 92, 299 S.W.2d 904. The majority opinion there turned on a provision absent here: that upon termination of the lease referred to in the instrument grantee should own “of the lease interest”, future rentals and other mineral privileges; and upon a clause, the counterpart of which was deleted here: grantee “owning one-eighth of one-eighth of” minerals and ⅛& interest in the future rents. There the majority held the latter provisions meant the grantee had the right to lease an undivided ⅛⅛ interest in the minerals, which, with right to bonus and rentals left no right in grantors in that ⅛⅛ interest; and there was conveyed ⅛⅛ of the “usual” royalty under future leases. That holding is neither controlling nor applicable here.

(2) Appellees assert Rabe “retained the right of ingress and egress”. It is not necessary to decide whether it was retained or granted. Under their own contention, the printed form was used, in which the words “together with the right of ingress and egress” are printed following a four-inch blank space provided for description. In Delta Drilling Co. v. Simmons, 161 Tex. 122, 338 S.W.2d 143, 145, the instrument provided that “none” of the lease interest should he owned by grantee, and it likewise contained the identically worded “Together with the right of ingress and egress” printed clause following the typed description. That clause was not permitted to control intent by implication in the Simmons case. The bill of interpleader prayed only, in this respect, that the instrument he construed to the extent the stakeholder could safely pay royalties accrued and unpaid which were tendered into the registry, and that the conflicting claims of defendants thereto be adjudicated. Our opinion is not intended to do more.

(3) It is urged that the words, “Royalty Contract”, appearing in the upper margin of the printed form in type a size smaller than the upper case used in the body of the form, constitute a “caption” which are words of the grantor to be construed against him in describing the nature of the estate granted; and that the words should he held to convey the greatest estate permissible thereby.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
371 S.W.2d 702, 20 Oil & Gas Rep. 97, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/etter-v-texaco-inc-texapp-1963.