Kelln v. Brownlee

517 S.W.2d 568, 50 Oil & Gas Rep. 548, 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2881
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 16, 1974
Docket8455
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 517 S.W.2d 568 (Kelln v. Brownlee) 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
Kelln v. Brownlee, 517 S.W.2d 568, 50 Oil & Gas Rep. 548, 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2881 (Tex. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

ROBINSON, Justice.

The trial court granted a declaratory judgment establishing the right of plaintiffs to suspended and future royalties by virtue of mineral deeds executed by defendants Kellns. Defendants Kellns appeal. Affirmed as modified.

The facts in this case are not in dispute. At the time of the conveyances in question the defendants owned no interest in the oil, gas and other minerals in Section 59, Block 43, H. & T. C. Ry. Co. Survey, Lipscomb and Ochiltree Counties, Texas, except: (1) an undivided one-half interest or an undivided 40.5 acres in the South Half of the Northeast Quarter (S/2 of NE/4) ; (2) an undivided one-half interest or an undivided 40.5 acres in the South Half of the Southeast Quarter (S/2 of SE/4); and (3) an undivided seven-eighths interest or an undivided 70.875 acres in the North Half of the Northwest Quarter (N/2 of NW/4). Therefore, the Kellns’ undivided mineral interests affected 243 acres of Section 59 and amounted to a total undivided interest of 151.875 acres.

On January 26, 1957, the Kellns executed to J. D. Crow an oil and gas lease of all of the above described Kelln land in Section 59. The lease granted lessee at its option the right and power to pool or combine the land covered by the lease with any other land, lease or leases.

Between September 29, 1956 and May 1, 1962, oil and gas leases covering all of *570 Section 59 had been executed by various lessors, some of the leases to J. D. Crow and some to Cabot Corporation. The leases in which Crow was the lessee, including the Kelln lease to Crow, were assigned to Cabot Corporation.

On February 19, 1964, the Kellns executed and delivered a mineral deed to grantees William T. Brownlee and Dan E. Archer, purporting to convey an undivided b%40 interest in minerals in all of Section 59. On September 2, 1964, the Kellns executed and delivered another such mineral deed to grantee William T. Brownlee. The granting clause and the questioned descriptions in each deed are as follows:

“. . . have granted, sold, conveyed, assigned and delivered, and by these presents do grant, sell, convey, assign and deliver unto the said Grantee, an undivided 5%4o interest in and to all of the oil, gas and other minerals in and under, and that may be produced from the following described land situated in Lipscomb & Ochiltree Counties, Texas, to-wit:
“All of Section Number Fifty-nine (59), Block 43, H. & T.C.R.R. Company Survey, Lipscomb County, Texas, and Ochiltree County, Texas.”
“Said land being now under an oil and gas lease executed in favor of Cabot Oil Company, it is understood and agreed that this sale is made subject to the terms of said lease and/or any other valid lease covering same, but covers and includes 5%4o of all of the oil royalty and gas rental or royalty due and to be paid under terms of said lease, in so far as it covers the above described land.”

On November 2 and 10, 1966, respectively, Cabot Corporation filed in the deed records of Ochiltree and Lipscomb Counties, Texas, a “Designation of Consolidated Leasehold Estate,” declaring all of Section 59 a pooled and consolidated leasehold estate for exploration, development and production of gas. Cabot drilled a well on Section 59 and obtained a gas well which produces gas in commercial quantities. Cabot then prepared a division order setting out the interests of Brownlee and Archer at 10%40 of the ⅛ royalty from Section 59. The Kellns refused to sign this division order, contending that Brown-lee and Archer are entitled to only 10%4oth of the royalty payable under the Kelln lease, that is 10%40 of 15⅜43 of ⅛ royalty from Section 59. Cabot then suspended the payment of the disputed royalty.

The case before us was filed by Brown-lee and Archer, seeking to have their right to suspended and future royalty determined by the court. Grantors Kellns filed a cross-action seeking declaratory judgment determining the legal effect of the instruments in question and the proportionate interest of the parties in the royalty from the gas well. Archer and Brownlee answered defendants’ cross-action, alleging that Kellns became owners of an undivided interest in, under or that might be produced from Section 59 by virtue of a cross-conveyance of mineral interest of the several owners in Section 59 as a result of the consolidation of leases under Cabot’s “Designation of Consolidated Leasehold Estate” and that because of the warranty in the deed from Kellns to Archer and Brownlee, Kellns are now estopped to deny ownership in Archer and Brownlee.

None of the pleadings seek recovery for damages for breach of warranty nor allege any fraud, misrepresentation or mistake, nor do they seek reformation of the deeds in question. The case was tried to the court without a jury and no evidence, other than the instruments themselves, was offered concerning the intention of the parties with regard to the deeds in question.

The trial court entered a judgment decreeing as follows:

“It is therefore, ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED, that Plaintiffs are entitled to all of the suspended *571 royalty payments that are now held by Cabot Corporation with respect to the disputed interests of the parties herein and further that Plaintiffs are entitled to 10%40th of the royalty on oil, gas or other minerals produced from Section Fifty-nine (59), Block Forty-three (43), H&TC Ry. Co. Survey, Lipscomb and Ochiltree Counties, Texas;
“It is further, ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED by the court that the interests of Sammy Brownlee and Dan Archer in the suspended and future royalty payments are established to conform to their interests as they appear by reason of the two (2) deeds in question . . . . ”

Defendants Kellns appealed.

In the case before us the deed purported to convey in plain and unambiguous language a fractional undivided interest in the minerals in and under and that may be produced from all of Section 59. Where the terms of a mineral deed are plain and unambiguous, the construction given it by the contracting parties is immaterial. Richardson v. Hart, 143 Tex. 392, 185 S.W.2d 563 (1945).

At the time of the conveyance, grantors Kellns did not own an interest in all of Section 59, their interest being limited to an undivided interest totaling 151 acres in three 80-acre tracts out of Section 59.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
517 S.W.2d 568, 50 Oil & Gas Rep. 548, 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2881, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelln-v-brownlee-texapp-1974.