Shell Petroleum Corp. v. Railroad Commission

This is a Rule 37 case. Decision herein has been withheld pending disposition by the Supreme Court of the case of Gulf Land Co. v. Atlantic Refining Co. See 131 S.W.2d 73.

The trial court upheld a permit granted by the Commission to Mrs. Whitehead on March 17, 1938, to drill a well on a narrow strip of land in Gregg County, Texas (339 1/2 varas long, 16.11 varas wide at the north end, and 11.66 varas wide at the south end), containing .835 of an acre, as an exception to Rule 37 to prevent confiscation of property. The Shell, which protested the granting of the permit and brought suit to set it…