Union Pacific Resources Company, Appellant v. Hellen Reasoner Hutchison, Milburn E. Nutt, and Susan McRae, Appellees, 990 S.W.2d 368

Summary

Appellees as lessees, leased a tract of land. The lessors reserved no executive rights and vested in appellees an express right to pool or combine the land covered by the lease or any portion thereof, as to oil and gas, with other lands and leases. The lessors reserved in the lease a non-participating royalty. Appellees in turn leased the property to others reserving in the assignment an undivided three-percent overriding royalty. The property came into the hands of appellant who pooled the property into a larger tract. Appellees brought a declaratory judgment action alleging the pooling was without their consent. The trial court found appellees were entitled to three percent of the entire pooled tract. On appeal, the court held that the parties intended that appellees' lessee should receive by assignment the right to pool given appellees in the original lease in express terms. Appellees transferred the identical right to pool they had under the original lease, and appellees' lessee ...