R. Olsen Oil Co. v. Fidler

• Decision Date: 29 October 1952
• Docket Number: No. 4467,4468.,4467
• Citation: 199 F.2d 868
• Parties: R. OLSEN OIL CO. v. FIDLER. FIDLER v. R. OLSEN OIL CO.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

199 F.2d 868 (1952)

R. OLSEN OIL CO. v. FIDLER.

FIDLER v. R. OLSEN OIL CO.

Nos. 4467, 4468.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

October 29, 1952.

T. Murray Robinson, Oklahoma City, Okl. (C. E. Barnes, Oklahoma City, Okl., W. E. Bondurant, Jr. and Hervey, Dow & Hinkle, Roswell, N. M., were with him on the brief), for appellant.

Irwin S. Moise and Lewis R. Sutin, albuquerque, N. M., for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and HUXMAN and PICKETT, Circuit Judges.

HUXMAN, Circuit Judge.

H. D. Fidler brought this action against R. Olsen Oil Company herein called Olsen, to recover damages caused by Olsen's failure to drill an oil and gas well to the contract depth. By the terms of the contract, Fidler assigned oil and gas leases to a block of 6,000 acres in Torrance County, New Mexico, to Olsen, in consideration of which Olsen agreed to drill an oil and gas well thereon to a depth of 6,000 feet, unless oil and gas were found at a lesser depth, and to make available a log of the well to Fidler. The contract further provided that if igneous rock or other impenetrable substances were encountered at a lesser depth, Olsen was relieved from further drilling. Olsen discontinued drilling operations at 3,680 feet and abandoned the well on the ground that igneous rock had been encountered.

The complaint set out three causes of action. The first was based on the contention that igneous rock had not in fact been encountered and that, therefore, Olsen breached its contract by discontinuing drilling operations. The second cause of action is not involved in this appeal and need not be further referred to. In the third cause of action Fidler sought damages for slander of title to the oil and gas leases he held around the assigned acreage, based upon an allegation that Olsen had falsely published a report that igneous rock had been encountered, thereby rendering Fidler's retained leases valueless. At the conclusion of the trial, the court dismissed the second and third causes of action and submitted the first cause to the jury. It returned a verdict in favor of Fidler. In Case Number 4467 Olsen has appealed from the judgment on the verdict and in Number 4468 Fidler has appealed from the judgment dismissing his third cause of action.

Number 4467.

Olsen contends that the verdict of the jury on the first cause of action is without support of substantial evidence. There was a sharp conflict in the testimony offered by Fidler and that offered by Olsen on the question whether igneous rock had in fact been encountered. Expert witnesses testified for both parties. Setting out this evidence in detail would add nothing of value to the opinion and would only unduly extend it. We, therefore, content ourselves by stating that we have carefully examined the record and, while the contention that the greater weight of the evidence is with Olsen is not without support, we are of the view that there is sufficient substantial evidence of probative value to support the verdict and judgment and they, therefore, may not be set aside on that ground.¹

It is further urged that the court erred in not sustaining Olsen's motion for a directed verdict at the close of the evidence. This contention is predicated on the ground that Fidler failed to introduce evidence in his case in chief as to the measure of damages, if any, and that such evidence was admitted only during his rebuttal testimony. Fidler offered such evidence in chief but it was first excluded. Thereafter the court reversed its ruling, concluding that the evidence was proper and it was then offered on redirect examination. When this was done, Olsen stated that it understood that Fidler had been allowed to reopen his case to prove damages and that it would like the opportunity of rebutting such testimony, which request was granted. Under these facts, Olsen's contention in this respect is wholly without merit and need not be further discussed.

It is also urged that the court's instruction with respect to igneous rock was erroneous and prejudicial and placed an undue burden on Olsen. The court instructed the jury that "As used in the contract between the parties, to encounter igneous rock or other impenetrable substances means to reach a geological formation within the specified maximum depth of 6,000 feet which, in the business of production of such minerals, it is recognized will reasonably preclude the probability of finding oil or gas in or below such formation." Appellant's objection is to the italicized portion of the instruction. Appellant argues from this instruction the jury might conclude that despite these obstacles there was still an accumulation of oil at a lower depth and would disregard Olsen's right to relief under the contract. This instruction in substance follows a similar instruction given by the trial court in Cosden Oil & Gas Co. v. Moss, 131 Okl. 49, 267 P. 855, 858. The Supreme Court of Oklahoma in passing upon the instruction in the Cosden case said: "This is but another way of saying that oil or gas, the minerals sought by both parties, does not exist either in or beneath a granite mass formation, which apparently under the record is a prevalent geological theory and so recognized by operators in the oil and gas industry, and that when granite was encountered in the well the contract was concluded, as further effort at discovery at the particular point of prospect was rendered futile." We think the instruction as given by the court is correct; that its meaning is clear and that the jury was not misled thereby.

The most serious question concerns the instruction relating to the measure of damages. The court instructed the jury that the measure of damages, if any, would be the amount of money for which a reasonably prudent driller would have undertaken the obligation of drilling the well; in other words, that the measure of damages was the reasonable cost of drilling the well. This is the well established rule in Oklahoma.² This being a New Mexico case, the Oklahoma rule is not binding upon the court except as it may be persuasive.

Olsen criticizes the Oklahoma rule and urges that the correct rule is laid down by this court in Hoffer Oil Corporation v. Carpenter, 10 Cir., 34 F.2d 589, 593. In the Hoffer case this court did say that the measure of damages was not the cost of drilling the well but was the value of the services to be performed and what one similarly situated would ordinarily pay therefor. That pronouncement, however, must be taken in light of the facts the court there had before it. There the transfer of the leases by plaintiff did not constitute the entire consideration for the drilling of the well. It constituted only a contribution toward the drilling thereof. It is obvious that where one only makes a contribution toward the cost of drilling a well he is not entitled as damages to the full costs thereof. The court there also stressed the fact that the plaintiff had no interest in the well or the acreage on which it was drilled. These facts, we think, are materially different from the facts in this case. According to the written contract in this case, plaintiff did not merely make a contribution toward the drilling of the well. As far as the record reveals, he furnished the entire consideration therefor. The contract states that in consideration of the transfer of these 6,000 acres of leases, Olsen agreed to drill the well to a depth of 6,000 feet and make available the information obtained thereby. Fidler also held an option to purchase royalty in the assigned acreage.

While an option to purchase does not constitute a vested interest in the land itself, it is a thing of value and creates rights that are valuable.³ It creates rights for a violation of which damages may be recovered.⁴ It creates an interest that may be assigned⁵ and is capable of specific enforcement in court.⁶ These facts, therefore distinguish this case in any event from the Hoffer case, supra.

Here we have a contract, clear and unambiguous, in which Olsen agreed to perform services for a valuable consideration furnished entirely by Fidler. These services consisted in doing what was necessary to obtain the geological information 6,000 feet below the earth's surface. This information could be obtained only by drilling a well. Olsen thus agreed to drill a well to obtain the information contracted for. Whether the consideration paid was more or less than is usually paid for such services is immaterial. If Olsen made a good bargain, he obtained more than was ordinarily paid for such services. If he got less than was ordinarily paid for the services, he made a bad bargain. But when he breached his contract, Fidler's damage was measured as stated in the Hoffer case "by the usual and customary charge for such services", which under the facts of this case is the usual and ordinary cost of drilling the well, because that is what Olsen has agreed to do and that is the only way he could obtain the information he agreed to furnish.

A further contention is made that the court should have instructed the jury that since Fidler did not own all the leases which were assigned that his recovery should in any event be limited to that portion of damages represented by his partial ownership of the leases. Without passing upon the soundness of this contention, it is sufficient to say that no request was made for such an instruction nor was an objection made to the court's instruction on damages based on this ground and, therefore, the question may not be raised for the...