Welch v. Cayton

NEELY, Justice:

This case involves the ownership of the oil and gas underlying a forty-five acre tract of land located in Ritchie County. It is a dispute among an owner of the oil and gas estate, an owner of the surface, who believes he has title to the oil and gas as well, an oil exploration firm who found and extracted oil and gas under a lease from the surface owner, and two companies which purchased oil and gas from the exploration company.

Mary Welch, et al., the appellees, (hereinafter Welch) claim ownership of the oil and gas by virtue of record title going back to 1889. The appellants,…