Lester J. Bergeron, Cross-Appellees v. Amoco Production Company, Cross-Appellants

POLITZ, Circuit Judge:

In this Louisiana diversity jurisdiction suit we must determine the appropriate construction to be given oil, gas, and mineral (OGM) leases as they affect an undivided fractional interest in a 40-acre tract of land within the gas-rich Tuscaloosa Trend in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Concluding that the district court correctly plumbed Louisiana law, we affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In September of 1976 James Mixon, a lease broker employed by Thomas Durham, contacted Lester J. Bergeron and made known Durham’s interest in securing OGM leases on property owned by the…