Vincent v. Hunt

221 So. 2d 577
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 8, 1969
Docket2660
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 221 So. 2d 577 (Vincent v. Hunt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vincent v. Hunt, 221 So. 2d 577 (La. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

221 So.2d 577 (1969)

Mabel Hulin VINCENT, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
H. L. HUNT et al., Defendant and Appellee.

No. 2660.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

April 8, 1969.

*578 Mouton, Roy, Carmouche, & Hailey, by John A. Bivens, Lafayette, Edwards, Edwards & Broadhurst, by Nolan J. Edwards, Crowley, for plaintiff-appellant.

Davidson, Meaux, Onebane & Donohoe, by Lawrence E. Donohoe, Jr., Lafayette, for defendant-appellee.

Before TATE, FRUGE and SAVOY, JJ.

FRUGÉ, Judge.

This is a suit for cancellation of an oil, gas and mineral lease and for an accounting of the proceeds of production. The lease was granted by plaintiff, Mabel Hulin Vincent, to F. J. Muller on September 20, 1963. The defendants are the persons presently claiming in one manner or another an interest *579 in the lease or in the production therefrom.

After the granting of the lease, a well was drilled and completed on adjoining land. This well was designated as the H. L. Hunt—Zaunbrecher No. 1 well and it began commercial production on November 4, 1965, continuously producing in a paying quantity since that time.

On February 7, 1966, a public hearing was held and the Commissioner of Conservation issued Order No. 721 which established a unit for the producing well. This unit, designated "Marg. Tex. SU A Zaunbrecher No. 1" included a portion of the lands leased by plaintiff herein. The wording of Order No. 721 included the following paragraph:

"The units hereby established and created shall be considered as temporary units to continue in full force and effect in accordance herewith for a period of one (1) year from the effective date hereof, unless such time be extended by appropriate order of the Commissioner of Conservation, which may be done without the necessity of a formal hearing. Upon the termination of said period of one (1) year, or the period of any extension granted as hereinabove provided, applicant shall call another hearing to consider additional geological and engineering evidence with respect to this sand and reservoir for the purpose of establishing and creating permanent units."

In March of 1967, the Commissioner of Conservation caused to be issued a "Supplement to Order 721", which supplement was dated March 27, 1967, and made effective April 1, 1967. This supplemental order provided in part that:

"Department of Conservation Order No. 721, effective on and after February 1, 1966, be and is hereby supplemented by the substitution of the following paragraph for Paragraph 6 of the Order Section of Order No. 721:
"`6. When sufficient geological information is available, and in any event not later than July 1, 1967, another public hearing shall be called, after legal notice, to consider whether the drilling units created herein should be revised; it being provided, however, that the Commissioner reserves the right, upon written application and upon showing of a valid basis therefor, to extend the time for the calling of such an additional hearing by supplemental order, without the necessity of a public hearing.'"

Effective July 1, 1967, the Commissioner of Conservation, pursuant to notice and hearing, issued his Order No. 721-A. This order created new units covering production from the well which had been previously unitized. The new unit was designated as "UMT SU A Zaunbrecher No. 1." The units created by the original Order No. 721 and the later Order, No. 721-A, all included within their limits the disputed acreage in this case.

The basis of this suit by plaintiff is her allegation that the mineral lease lapsed as to that part of the acreage included in the units mentioned previously. She alleges that for a continuous period of more than ninety days there was neither drilling operations nor production from or allocated to the disputed acreage. Her argument is that on its face Order No. 721 terminated one year from its origin, and since it was more than five months before Order 721-A created a new unit covering the disputed acreage, for that five-month period there was no unit and therefore no production attributed to lease acreage.

Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment and exceptions of lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, and of nonjoinder of an indispensable party, namely the Commissioner of Conservation. These pleadings essentially directed themselves to the point that this suit was attacking an order of the Commissioner of Conservation and that therefore it should have been brought directly against the Commissioner at his domicile in Baton Rouge. L.S.A.-R.S. 30:12.

*580 After trial on the motion and exceptions, the court ruled that the suit was a collateral attack and it maintained the motion for summary judgment and the exception to the jurisdiction, thus dismissing plaintiff's suit. A devolutive appeal was taken by plaintiff.

The sole issue before this court is whether the exception and motion were properly sustained in that this suit is actually an attack on an order of the Department of Conservation, which L.S.A.-R.S. 30:12 commands must be brought in Baton Rouge, with the Commissioner being made a party.

L.S.A.-R.S. 30:12 provides in part:

"An interested person adversely affected by any law of this state with respect to conservation of oil or gas, or both, by a provision of this Chapter, or by a rule, regulation, or order made by the commissioner hereunder, or by an act done or threatened thereunder, and who has exhausted his administrative remedy, may obtain court review and seek relief by a suit for an injunction against the commissioner as defendant. Suit shall be instituted in the district court of the parish in which the principal office of the commissioner is located and shall be tried summarily. * * * The law, the provision of this Chapter, or the rule, regulation or order complained of, shall be taken as prima facie valid. This presumption shall not be overcome in connection with any application for injunctive relief, including a temporary restraining order, by verified petition or affidavit of or in behalf of the applicant. The right of review accorded by this Section shall be inclusive of all other remedies, but the right of appeal shall lie as hereinafter set forth in this Chapter."

It was the defendants' contention in trial court and here on appeal, and evidently the trial judge accepted the argument, that plaintiff is in reality collaterally attacking the validity of an order issued by the Commissioner of Conservation, all in violation of the procedure set out in L.S.A.-R.S. 30:12. They allege that plaintiff's argument simply avoids the presence of the "Supplement to Order 721", which "order", say defendants, must be attacked by plaintiff to be successful in her suit.

Plaintiff's argument is simply that she can maintain her suit without the necessity of attacking an order of the Commissioner, and that her petition reveals no attempt to do so in violation of L.S.A.-R.S. 30:12 or the general law of this state. She alleges that not only is she not attacking the orders, but she rather seeks to effectuate them. Order 721, says plaintiff, by its wording terminated the original unit one year from its date of formation, or February 1, 1967. As to the "Supplement", the plaintiff would have this court give it no effect for reasons to be discussed shortly. The new order, No. 721-A, coming too late, the lease should be canceled on the grounds mentioned earlier.

To clear herself of the charges of violating LSA-R.S.

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Bluebook (online)
221 So. 2d 577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vincent-v-hunt-lactapp-1969.