Texas - Oil & Gas

摘要

Acreage Capable of Retention After Lease's Primary Term Held Reduced Under Applicable Field Rules Oil and gas lessors often seek to negotiate "retained acreage" clauses under which the lease will terminate at some point, most commonly at the end of the primary term or after a period of continuous development then in progress, except as to land on which producing wells have been drilled. Many such provisions define the amount of acreage the lessee is allowed to retain as a specified number of acres, and astute lessees negotiate for a proviso that the lease will, notwithstanding the number of acres so specified, remain in effect at least with respect to the amount of acreage the state regulatory authority requires to be allocated to each well. ConocoPhillips Co. v. Vaquillas Unproven Minerals, Ltd, No. 04-15-00066-CV, 2015 WL 4638272 (Tex. App.-San Antonio Aug. 5, 2015, no pet. h.) (mem. op.), illustrates that a clause that changes the area the lessee may retain might sometimes work in the lessor's favor.