At Al v. El Al.
| Decision Date | 24 May 1932 |
| Docket Number | (No. 7106) |
| Citation | 112 W.Va. 347 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | Tell McDonald at al v. Sarah Bennett el al. |
Mines and Minerals
A reservation in the conveyance of a parcel of land, of "1/8 of all the oil and gas in and underlying said tract of land that may be produced therefrom, and the right of ingress and egress for the purpose of utilizing the same", means 1/8 of the oil and gas produced as contradistinguished from 1/8of the oil and gas in place.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Calhoun County. Suit by Tell McDonald and others against Sarah Bennett and others. From the decree, defendants appeal.
Reversed and remanded.
J. D. Jones and A. G. Mathews, for appellants. Lorentz C. Hamilton, for appellees.
This is an appeal from a decree partitioning the oil and gas of a tract of 212-3/4 acres of land in Calhoun County. The case was reversed on a former appeal for lack of necessary parties. 108 W. Va. 665, 152 S. E. 533.
By deed dated December 1, 1898, W. T. Wiant and N. M. Bennett conveyed said land to C. E. Vandevender and John S. Withers. The deed contained the provision: "But there is reserved and excepted from this conveyance 1/8 of all the oil and gas in and underlying said tract of land that may be produced therefrom, and the right of ingress and egress for the purpose of utilizing the same, and the parties of the second part (grantees) are to pay annually accruing taxes upon the said land hereby conveyed, including the reservation and rights here reserved."
The settlement of the controversy involves the construction of this provision. The parties succeeding to the rights of the grantees contend, as the circuit court held, that the reservation is limited to % of the oil and gas in place, while those succeeding to the rights of the grantors assert that the reservation carries Vs of all the oil and gas "that may be produced" from the land. The interest retained is. definitely described as Vs of the oil and gas that may be produced. The phrase, "and the right of ingress and egress for the purpose of utilizing the same", comports with the plain language describing the reserved interest as oil and gas produced from the land. The operation of an undivided interest of oil and gas in place is neither possible nor permissible. Law v. Reck Oil Co., 106 W. Va. 296, 145 S. E. 601. Moreover, if the incidental right had been intended for the operation of the oil and gas in place, the deed would have so provided...
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Davis v. Hardman, s. 12227
...We observe also that the several reservations are of fractional portions of the oil and gas royalty 'when produced.' In McDonald v. Bennett, 112 W.Va. 347, 164 S.E. 298, a case involving a question similar to that involved in the instant case, the Court emphasized the significance of the wo......
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Atlantic Refining Co. v. Beach
...whether it conveys minerals in place or transfers royalty only. See 1 Williams & Meyers, Oil & Gas Law, § 304.13; McDonald v. Bennett, 112 W.Va. 347, 164 S.E. 298. Where the instrument as a whole has been considered, and other more persuasive provisions outweigh those of development easemen......
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Collins v. Stalnaker
...oil and gas severed from the surface that is produced constitutes the thing itself and not the proceeds thereof. In MacDonald v. Bennett, 112 W.Va. 347, 164 S.E. 298, this Court held that a reservation contained in a deed of conveyance of a parcel of land of "1/8 of all the oil and gas in a......
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Collins v. Stalnaker, (No. 10005)
...oil and gas severed from the surface that is produced constitutes the thing itself and not the proceeds thereof. In McDonald v. Bennett, 112 W. Va. 347, 164 S. E. 298, this Court held that a reservation contained in a deed of conveyance of a parcel of land of " 1/8 of all the oil and gas in......