Watkins v. Gulf Refining Co.

• Decision Date: 06 November 1944
• Docket Number: 37286.
• Citation: 20 So.2d 273,206 La. 942
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
• Parties: WATKINS et al. v. GULF REFINING CO.

20 So.2d 273

206 La. 942

WATKINS et al. v. GULF REFINING CO.

No. 37286.

Supreme Court of Louisiana

November 6, 1944

Rehearing Denied Dec. 11, 1944.

Appeal from Fourteenth Judicial District Court, Parish of Jefferson Davis; Mark C. Pickrel, Judge.

J.S Atkinson, of Shreveport, and McCoy & King, of Lake Charles for defendant and appellant.

Plauch� & Plauch�, of Lake Charles, for plaintiffs and appellees.

HIGGINS Justice.

This is an action to recover damages to the crops, buildings, farm equipment, machinery, etc., of the plaintiffs, alleged to have been caused by the "blowing out" of a well on July 20, 1941, while being drilled by the defendant in search of oil near the village of Hayes in Calcasieu Parish.

Several members of the Henderson family filed a petition of intervention setting forth that they were the owners of one hundred eighty-four acres of land, which had been leased to the plaintiffs for a rental fixed at one-sixth of the crops raised thereon, and that they were entitled to recover one-sixth of the damages to the crops on the said tract of land, as shown by the plaintiffs' petition. They prayed for judgment accordingly.

The defendant in its answer admitted that the well which was being drilled by it for oil got out of control and so remained from July 20, 1941 until August 13, 1941; that it caught afire approximately twenty-four hours after it blew out; that while it was out of control, it expelled and emitted large quantities of gas, sand, salt water, distillate, and other substances; and that at the time of the "blow out" the well had been drilled to a depth of 10,534 feet. The respondent denied liability, averring that it was free from fault.

The plaintiffs asked for a trial by jury and after a lengthy hearing a unanimous verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiffs for an amount less than that claimed and in favor of the intervenors as prayed for.

The defendant filed a motion for a new trial and after a hearing and argument of counsel thereon, it was overruled and the judgment was entered and signed. Thereupon, the defendant was granted and perfected a suspensive appeal to this Court.

The plaintiffs seek to fasten liability on the defendant strictly and absolutely under the doctrine of "Sic utere tuo, ut alienum non laedas" ("So use your own that you do not injure that of another"), citing Article 667 of the Revised Civil Code; Green v. General Petroleum Corporation, 205 Cal. 328, 270 P. 952, 60 A.L.R. 475; Summers Oil and Gas, Perm Ed., Vol. 4, p. 17 et seq.; McFarlain v. Jennings-Heywood Oil Syndicate, 118 La. 537, 43 So. 155; Tulane Law Review, Vol. XVII, pg. 159, etc.; Tulane Law Review, Vol. VI, page 354 et seq. and Law of Torts, Harper, (1933) pages 333, 334.

The defendant counters by stating that the doctrine of liability without fault in tort cases such as the instant one has not been recognized in this State and liability could only be predicated upon negligence, relying upon McCoy et al. v. Arkansas Natural Gas Corporation, 191 La. 332, 185 So. 274, and Loesch v. R.P. Farnsworth & Co., La.App., 12 So.2d 222.

Pretermitting any discussion of this interesting question and assuming but without deciding that the position of the defendant is correct, a view most favorable to it, we pass to a consideration of the applicability of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur.

The drilling of an oil well requires complicated and involved machinery which is under the sole control of the operator thereof. While an oil well is being drilled, it does not "blow out" as a general rule. A person who is injured or damaged by such a happening could not be expected to have information as to the cause of the well getting out of control, whereas the operator would be informed thereof. The jurisprudence is clear that where damages are caused by an instrumentality under the exclusive control of a defendant and they would not ordinarily have occurred if the party having control thereof had used proper care, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies. Ross v. Tynes, La.App., 14 So.2d 80; Ortego et al. v. Nehi Bottling Works et al., 199 La. 599, 6 So.2d 677; Nuss v. MacKenzie, La.App., 4 So.2d 845; Gulf Ins. Co. v. Temple, La.App., 187 So. 814; Jones v. Shell petroleum Co., 185 La. 1067, 171 So. 447; and Gershner v. Gulf Refining Co., La.App., 171 So. 399.

Under this principle of law, the evidence showing the happening of the accident and the resulting damages establishes a prima facie case and the burden is placed upon a defendant to exculpate itself from fault. Joynes v. Valloft & Dreaux, La.App., 1 So.2d 108; Royal Ins. Co. v. Collard Motors, La.App., 179 So. 108; Dotson v. Louisiana Cent. Lbr. Co., 144 La. 78, 80 So. 205; and Noble v. Southland Lumber Co., 4 La.App. 281.

The defendant in a damage suit coming under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur must show that he did not do anything that he should not have done, that he left undone nothing he should have done and that he neglected no legal duty owed to the plaintiff. Vargas v. Blue Seal Bottling Works, 12 La.App. 652, 126 So. 707; Horrell et al. v. Gulf & Valley Cotton Oil Co., 15 La.App. 603, 131 So. 709. It is our opinion that the above rule of law governs this case.

The trial judge charged the members of the jury if they should find from the evidence that the defendant, either with or without negligence, drilled the well and permitted it to get out of control, resulting in damages to the plaintiffs, it was liable therefor and the jury should fix the amount of damages in dollars and cents. We are, therefore, not in a position to determine whether or not the jury predicated its verdict, in so far as liability is concerned, upon negligence or the doctrine of liability without fault. The defendant complains on this score. However, this circumstance as well as the correctness of the judge's instructions to the jury become immaterial because this Court is required, under the law, to review all of the evidence, which is now before it, and determine finally therefrom whether or not it shows that the defendant is liable.

In January 1941, the defendant's employees began the drilling of a well for oil upon leased lands located in the Hayes area of Calcasieu Parish. After setting 13 3/8 inch surface casing to a depth of 1885 feet and cementing it, the well was drilled to a depth of 9200 feet. In the beginning of March 1941, 9 5/8 inch casing was set and cemented at this depth and connected with a well head, guaranteed by its manufacturer to withstand a pressure of 6,000 pounds per square inch hydraulicly tested. (The well head is that part of the drilling equipment between the surface of the ground and the drilling platform.) The bottom of the hole was cemented so as to prevent any gas or oil from seeping into the well. In March 1941 the well head connections were tested by the defendant with a pressure of 1800 pounds, cold water test. About that time the same connections were also tested by the representatives of the Conservation Department at a pressure of 1300 pounds, cold water test, as required by the regulations of the Department. After setting the 9200 feet of 9 5/8 inch casing, the defendant proceeded to drill with an 8 1/2 inch bit to a depth of 10,534 feet. Seven thousand, nine hundred and twenty-seven (7927) feet of 7 inch casing was placed in the hole from the bottom and extended upward into the 9 5/8 inch casing a distance of 1593 feet. In the drilling process, the defendant took cores regularly and had ascertained the presence of gas sand reservoir near the bottom of the hole. As a precaution against the hazard of either carving or a blow out, the defendant set 2600 feet of the seven inch steel casing by filling and sealing the space between it and the 9 5/8 inch casing by pumping in 740 sacks of cement under a pressure of 2300 or 2400 pounds. On July 16, 1941, the bottom of the 7 inch casing at the depth from 10,527 to 10,529 feet was perforated for the purpose of cementing the bottom of the casing on the outside thereof, preparatory for deeper drilling. Twenty-four shots were electrically fired to make these perforations or orifices and mud began to "shoot out" of the top of the well. When the perforator cable and gun were removed and the master valve closed there developed quickly a pressure of 600 pounds to the square inch on the casing and the well head connections. Immediately upon the development of this pressure, realizing the defendant was in a predicament, and effort was made by its representatives to tighten all bolts upon the well head holding the connections together, but they were already as tight as they could be drawn. Whether this condition was caused by the gas pressure or existed because these bolts were properly fastened originally is not explained by the defendant. The Halliburton Company was telephoned to come with its equipment to lubricate the well and it began this operation on the morning of July 17, 1941, and continued the lubrication until 4 o'clock p.m. on July 19, 1941. On the night of July 16, 1941, after the perforations were made and the 600 pound pressure developed, the defendant also immediately ordered a special 7 inch "blow out" preventer consisting of two 7 inch preventers with 7 inch master valve between them, all welded together as one unit, to be brought from the Evangeline Field in Acadia Parish, a distance of 60 miles, and a Hydrill rotary to be brought from Pearce Junction, Texas, 200 miles away, to be used for "snubbing in". It took six hours for this equipment to arrive and would require two hours to install it.The special 7 inch blow out preventer was installed but not the Hydrill rotary. The "snubbing in" method of controlling the well was never resorted to or employed. After the ...