Oil and Gas Leases: Standing: Third-Party Beneficiary Doctrine

摘要

During the summer of 2008, Vantage Energy, LLC (Vantage) approaches homeowners in southwestern Fort Worth to obtain leases for the minerals under their properties. Negotiations between a homeowners' association formed to facilitate leasing, the Southwest Fort Worm Alliance (SFWA), and Vantage result in a "uniform oil and gas lease form" template that homeowners in the SFWA can use to lease their mineral rights with Vantage, and Vantage is named the SFWA's "preferred" lessee and developer. When the price of natural gas begins to fall, Vantage stops extending leases to the residential homeowners within the southwest Fort Worth area. Some disappointed unleased homeowners in the SFWA, citing email communication from Vantage and the "uniform oil and gas lease form," file suit for breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and negligent misrepresentation, and seek specific performance to compel Vantage to enter into a uniform oil and gas lease with each of them.