Total E & P USA, Inc. v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp.

DENNIS, Circuit Judge:

This case involves a contractual interpretation dispute over whether overriding royalties are payable out of the initial oil and gas production from a tract of land on the outer continental shelf adjacent to Louisiana. In 1998, pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”),1 the United States issued a mineral lease of the tract to oil companies for mineral exploration. In 1999 and 2001, overriding royalty interests (“ORRI”) were carved out of the lessees’ working interest in all production and assigned to seven individuals referred to herein as the “Belcher…