Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Southland Royalty Co.

244 S.W.2d 249, 1 Oil & Gas Rep. 180, 1951 Tex. App. LEXIS 1758
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 18, 1951
Docket4794
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 244 S.W.2d 249 (Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Southland Royalty Co.) 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
Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Southland Royalty Co., 244 S.W.2d 249, 1 Oil & Gas Rep. 180, 1951 Tex. App. LEXIS 1758 (Tex. Ct. App. 1951).

Opinions

McGILL, Justice.

By this suit appellees sought a declaratory judgment under Article 2524— 1, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St., to settle and determine a controversy which 'had arisen between them and appellants as to their claim to a royalty interest in certain minerals produced from a portion of Section 6 in Block “A”, B. S. & F. Survey in Crockett County. They also sought an accounting and judgment against appellant, Humble Oil & Refining Company, the purchaser of the oil produced from such land. Trial to the court without a jury resulted in a judgment in favor of appellees for all relief sought, the monetary judgment -against Humble being in the sum of $14,072.89. The trial court incorporated Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in the judgment. The parties concede that the facts are not disputed, and that the sole questions for our determination are questions of law. Appellants have made a very clear statement of the facts, which is fully supported by the trial court’s findings. A statement of these facts is deemed essential to a proper understanding of the points of law presented. We copy copiously from appellants’ brief:

“L. P. Powell and wife, Essie D. Powell, on April 2, 1925, and prior thereto, were the owners of Section 6 in Block ‘A’ B &SF Survey in Crockett County, Texas. Section 6 was in the form of a square and contained 640 acres of land. L. P. Powell and wife are the common source of title.
“On April 2, 1925, Powell and wife conveyed to J. H. Youngmeyer an undivided one-half (½) interest in all oil, gas and other minerals in the South one-half '(½) of this Section 6. On this date, as a result of such conveyance, the title to Section 6 was vested as follows: L. P. Powell and wife owned the surface to the whole section, all the minerals in the North o-ne-half (½) and one-half (½) of the mineral estate in the South one-half (½) ; while J. H. Youngmeyer owned one-half (½) of the minerals in the South one-half (½).
“On August 13, 1925, Powell and wife conveyed to Southland Royalty Company, among other' lands, an undivided one-half (½) interest in the oil, gas and other minerals in the Northwest quarter (NWj4) and in the Northeast quarter (NE%:) of the Southwest quarter (SW%) of the same Section 6. There was a limitation on the grant, in that it was to- remain in force and effect only for ‘a period of twenty years from date’ (August 13, 1925) and as long thereafter ‘as oil, gas or other minerals are produced from said land’.
“The J. H. Youngmeyer interest was in part conveyed by subsequent deeds, and, to such extent there was a mutation in such title. The mutation in the Youngmeyer title is immaterial to this appeal, and, in the interest of brevity we do not chain it, but will continue reference to it, where pertinent, as the Youngmeyer interest.
“Thereafter, and by instrument dated June 22, 1932, filed for record November 3, 1932, L. P. Powell and wife, Essie D. Powell, the owners of the Youngmeyer interest and Southland Royalty Company made an oil, gas and general mining and mineral lease to Gulf Production Company, covering 250 acres of land out of Section 6. This 250 acres was described as follows: ‘The north 50 acres (N.50) of the West ½ of the Southwest ⅛; the Northeast ½ of the Southwest ¼; and the N.W.j/i of Sec[251]*251tion 6, Block “A” B. S. & F. Survey, aggregating 250 acres, more or less.’
“The conditions which then existed upon the land subject to this litigation -can best be presented by the following plat:
“The Gulf Production Company thereafter assigned the entire lease, to a depth of 3,000 feet, to Garrett M. Smith, one of the defendants in the trial court,
“The mineral interests in the land subject to the oil and gas lease (enclosed by the broken line) were owned as follows:
Powells:
½ interest in NW/4
½ interest in N 50 acres of W/2 SW/4
No interest in NE/4 SW/4
Southland Royalty Company:
½ interest in NW/4
⅛ interest in NE/4 SW/4
{subj ect to the 20 year limitation)
No interest in N 50 acres of W/2 SW/4
Youngmeyer:
No interest in NW/4
½ interest in N 50 acres of W/2 SW/4
½ interest in NE/4 SW/4
“By deed dated October 17, 1932, filed for record October 24, 1932, L. P. Powell and wife conveyed to Plumble Oil & Refining Company all the oil, gas and other minerals in Section 6, Block “A”. This deed specifically passed all ‘reversionary’ rights of which Powell and wife were possessed at that time, * * *
“Garrett M. Smith, pursuant the assignment to him by Gulf Production Company of the leasehold rights to a depth of 3,000 feet, commenced drilling operations on the North 50 acres of the West one-half (½) of the Southwest quarter (SWJ4), and, on June 19, 1941 completed a producing oil well. On September 24 of the same year [252]*252lie completed another producer on the same SO-acre tract. Oil has been continuously produced from said two wells, in paying quantities, from the date of completion to the time of trial. The location of the wells is shown on the plat.
[251]

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

Related

Dickerson v. Ray
169 N.E.2d 341 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1960)
Southland Royalty Co. v. Humble Oil & Refining Co.
249 S.W.2d 914 (Texas Supreme Court, 1952)
Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Southland Royalty Co.
244 S.W.2d 249 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1951)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
244 S.W.2d 249, 1 Oil & Gas Rep. 180, 1951 Tex. App. LEXIS 1758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/humble-oil-refining-co-v-southland-royalty-co-texapp-1951.