Cameron Meadows Land Co. v. Bullard
| Decision Date | 30 June 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 6044,6044 |
| Citation | 348 So.2d 193 |
| Parties | CAMERON MEADOWS LAND COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Daniel R. BULLARD et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements & Shaddock by Oliver P. Stockwell, Lake Charles, for plaintiff-appellant.
Liskow & Lewis by William R. Pitts, New Orleans, for Mobil Oil Corp.
H. Ward Fontenot, Cameron, Farris Mitchell, Houston, Tex., John F. Reid, New Orleans, Camp, Carmouche, Palmer, Carwile & Barsh by A. J. Gray, III, Lake Charles, for defendants-appellees.
Before DOMENGEAUX, GUIDRY and ROGERS, JJ.
This is an appeal by plaintiff, Cameron Meadows Land Company, hereinafter referred to as Cameron Meadows, from a Declaratory Judgment which decreed substantially as follows:
1) that this suit is a class action;
2) that certain partial releases of an oil, gas and mineral lease executed by Mobil Oil Corporation, Humble Oil & Refining Company and Exxon Corporation on certain lands of plaintiff are effective insofar as their interests are concerned, and that they no longer have any interest in the lands released by them;
3) that the released lands referred to above are free of any overriding royalty reserved in the conveyance by H. M. Henshaw to Vacuum (the predecessor of Mobil Oil Corporation) on April 1, 1927, of the lease granted by Cameron Meadows to H. M. Henshaw, dated March 21, 1927, including the overriding royalty owned by the two sole heirs of H. M. Henshaw, namely Harold M. Henshaw and Ashbel Henshaw, and certain other overriding royalty owners;
4) that the lands released by Mobil Oil Corporation, Humble Oil and Refining Company and Exxon Corporation are still subject to the oil, gas and mineral lease dated March 21, 1927, granted by Cameron Meadows to H. M. Henshaw, and is presently owned by the two children and sole heirs of H. M. Henshaw in equal proportion.
The defendants are Harold M. Henshaw, Ashbel B. Henshaw, heirs of H. M. Henshaw, Mobil Oil Corporation, hereinafter referred to as Mobil, Exxon Corporation, hereinafter referred to as Exxon, and numerous overriding royalty owners.
A motion was made by the Henshaw group to dismiss the appeal of Mobil, urging Mobil had no interest in the property involved in this litigation and further was not aggrieved by the judgment of the district court. We find no merit to the Henshaw argument as a reversal of the district court's judgment eliminates the possibility of future litigation between Cameron Meadows and Mobil, and accordingly, we dismiss this action.
The case is somewhat complicated and since the trial judge summarized the facts and the issues of the case concisely, we adopt that portion of his Reasons for Judgment as follows:
"Plaintiff-landowner, Cameron Meadows Land Company, ("Cameron Meadows"), seeks judgment declaring that a portion of its land is no longer burdened by a mineral lease and certain overriding royalties.
By instrument dated March 21, 1927, Cameron Meadows Land Company, as landowner, granted a mineral lease, ("Cameron Meadows lease"), to H. M. Henshaw covering 11,540 acres in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
As compared to modern leases, the Cameron Meadows lease is simple in its terms. It provided for a royalty of 7/64 for oil, 1/8 for casinghead gas, $200.00 per year for each natural gas well, and .50 cents per long ton of sulphur. The lease gave Henshaw the exclusive right to develop the minerals on the properties and included the right of assignment. The lease also provided that production of minerals in paying quantities from the property would maintain the lease in its entirety for as long as the minerals were so produced. The lease did not include a release clause, nor did it include the retention of any fixed acreage around a producing well in the event the lease was terminated.
On April 1, 1927, Henshaw executed an instrument purporting to "grant, sell, transfer, and assign," unto Vacuum Oil Company the Cameron Meadows lease for the entirety of the lands covered thereby. The instrument contained an obligation on the part of Vacuum to pay Henshaw an overriding royalty on oil or gas produced from the lease premises. The instrument required Vacuum to perform the terms of the original Cameron Meadows lease. This instrument did not authorize Vacuum to release any portion of the leased premises.
Oil and Gas were discovered on the leased premises by Vacuum in October of 1931, and have been continuously produced from the leased premises ever since.
By mesne conveyances Mobil and Exxon succeeded to the interest of Vacuum in the leased premises in the proportion of one-half each with Mobil being the operator.
Two of the Defendants, Harold M. Henshaw and Ashbel B. Henshaw, acquired the leasehold interest of H. M. Henshaw by inheritance. All other Defendants, with the exceptions of Mobil and Exxon, are owners of overriding royalty interests which were acquired through mesne conveyances. 1
By instrument dated April 5, 1951, by and between Mobil, (then Magnolia Petroleum Company), Exxon (then Humble Oil and Refinery (sic) Company), and Cameron Meadows, it was agreed that the royalty payable on gas produced from the leased premises would be 7/64 of the gas sold as opposed to the $200.00 per year per well provided in the original Cameron Meadows lease. Neither Henshaw, as lessee, nor any of the Defendants herein signed this agreement. Similarly, by instrument dated January 5, 1952, between Cameron Meadows, Magnolia and Humble, it was agreed that the royalty payable to sulphur should be $2.00 per ton as opposed to .50 cents per ton provided in the original Cameron Meadows lease. Again, neither Henshaw nor any of the Defendants herein executed that instrument. In both of the instruments Cameron Meadows acknowledged that the original Cameron Meadows lease was in full force and effect according to its terms.
By instrument executed in various counterparts during 1957 and 1958, the parties having an interest in the leased premises authorized Magnolia as operator to measure and allocate production from wells on the leased premises by use of "well test" in lieu of "gauge tanks". Cameron Meadows asserts that the instrument contains an acknowledgment of "ownership" of the Cameron Meadows lease in Magnolia and Humble. The purpose of the instrument was to authorize a different method of measuring production (as required by state-wide order 29-d of the Department of Conservation).
Cameron Meadows at various times since 1935 made demands upon Mobil and Exxon for further development of the leased premises. No demand has ever been made upon Henshaw or any other defendants for development of the property.
From 1971 through 1973 Mobil and Exxon executed three releases covering the leased premises:
1. By instrument dated January 22, 1971, Mobil executed a release of the following described properties:
'All of Sections 19 and 20; all of Section 22 below the depth of 8,341 feet; all of Section 23; the West Half of Sections 24, 25, and 26; all of Sections 29, 30, 31 and 32, Township 14 South, Range 13 West, La. Mer., Cameron Parish, Louisiana.'
This release executed by Mobil does not purport to release the Cameron Meadows lease itself, but rather releases only the right, title and interest of Mobil in the Cameron Meadows lease. The language of the instrument specifically provides as follows:
'All it's (Mobil's) right, title and interest in and to that certain oil and gas mining lease dated March 21, 1927, executed by the said Cameron Meadows Land Company as lessors to H. M. Henshaw as lessee, of record in Conveyance Book 9, page 122, records of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, insofar as said lease covers and includes its interest in an to the following described lands . . . '
2. By instrument dated March 26, 1971, Humble similarly surrendered its interest in part of the disputed acreage under the Cameron Meadows lease. The pertinent language of the Humble release is as follows:
'KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that Humble Oil & Refining Company does hereby release, relinquish, surrender, and abandon all of its right, title and interest in and to that certain oil, gas and mineral lease dated the 21st day of March, 1927, executed by Cameron Meadows Land Company, as lessor, to H. M. Henshaw, as lessee, . . . .'
The properties covered by the Humble release were described as follows:
3. Finally, by instrument executed February 23, 1973, Exxon released its interest in the Cameron Meadows lease insofar as the lease covered Section 22, Township 14 South, Range 13 West below the depth of 8,341 feet.
The properties described in these three releases are the properties in dispute.
Prior to execution of the releases by Mobil and Exxon, Defendant Harold Henshaw, through his attorney, James A. Smith, wrote Mobil concerning the transaction. By letter dated January 13, 1971, James wrote Mobil concerning the proposed releases and received a response from Mobil dated January 21, 1971, in which Mobil stated that the proposed release of Mobil 'will only cover Mobil's undivided half interest' and that Mobil understood that Humble would also be releasing its interest. By letter dated February 27, 1972, Harold Henshaw personally wrote Humble concerning the Cameron Meadows lease and his desire to protect his royalty interest. Humble did not respond to Mr. Henshaw's letter. Harold M. Henshaw, again on February 13, 1975, wrote a letter to Mobil concerning the acreage Mobil had released and referred therein to his 'losing royalty on some 6,600 acres, when this was turned back to ...
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