Scott Paper Co. v. Taslog, Inc.

LEWIS R. MORGAN, Circuit Judge:

Scott Paper Company, International Paper Company, St. Regis Paper Company, and Koppers Company own large tracts of land encumbered by an oil and gas royalty owned by Taslog, Inc. A dispute arose between the appellant paper companies and Taslog over whether Taslog’s royalty burdened the entire gas stream produced from appellants’ wells, including hydrogen sulfide gas, or whether it was limited to merely the hydrocarbon elements of the gas stream. To resolve this dispute, the paper companies instituted a declaratory judgment action and, after the submission of…