Key Operating & Equipment, Inc. v. Will Hegar and Loree Hegar

At issue in this case is whether, when parts of two mineral leases have been pooled but production is from only one lease, the mineral lessee has the right to use a road across the surface of the lease without production in order to access the producing lease. The trial court determined that the lessee does not and granted declaratory and injunctive relief. The court of appeals affirmed. Concluding that the lessee has such a right, we reverse and render.

I. Background

Key Operating and Equipment, Inc., (Key) has operated the Richardson No. 1 well on the sixty-acre Richardson tract since 1987.…