DISTRICT COURT ADDRESSES WELL OPERATOR OBLIGATIONS IN GAS LEASES WITH FREE GAS CLAUSES

摘要

A recent United States District Court ruling1 in Oklahoma denied Robert E. Lee, Jr. ("Lee")', Hitch Land & Cattle Co. ("Hitch"), Suzanne V. Landess, as Trustee of the Suzanne V. Landess Revocable Trust ("Landess"), and Counterclaim Defendant Marvin Mathis ("Mathis") (collectively "Landowners"), a preliminary injunction to prevent ConocoPhillips Co. (Conoco) from disconnecting farm taps~2 that provided natural gas, free of charge, to these Landowners for domestic use. The disconnection of the farm taps was part of a company-wide program to decommission low pressure farm tap lines. Conoco's choice to disconnect all residential farm taps from its wells was in opposition to the interest of the Landowners who demanded that Conoco continue to supply them with gas free of charge.