Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. v. BMT O & G TX, L.P.

OPINION

YVONNE T. RODRIGUEZ, Justice

In this case, we must decide whether a group of mineral right owners can obtain damages for alleged breaches of a lease’s assignment and operation clauses when the lessee, without notice, agreed to “farm out” part of the leasehold to a subcontractor in exchange for drilling services. No party disputes that the subcontractor performed the drilling activities necessary to perpetuate the lease; the only issue here is whether the lease expired or allowed for termination when the subcontractor tried to step into the lessee’s shoes as drilling operator. We hold it…