1 The Law of Oil and Gas Leases, 2nd Edition § 4.02

Summary

There is another provision used in describing land in oil and gas leases that is found principally in Texas, but occasionally in other states. It is what is called the “Mother Hubbard” clause, or sometimes the “cover all” clause. For the reason that many written land descriptions fail to include all the land under fence, or owned or claimed by the lessor—who may have acquired some of it by limitation or prescription—the “Mother Hubbard” clause has come into wide use in Texas. Sometimes narrow strips of land, adjacent to that included in the description of the original acquisition, may have become vested through possession, and a consequent limitation title. The failure to include these narrow strips with a description of the principal tract in a lease has often meant much extra expense to the lessee in the drilling of unnecessary wells where the strip is leased to another. Offset obligations and drainage problems, coupled with conservation principles, may become serious under such ...