Schwartz v. Prairie Producing Co.

This hard case confounds us again. Of course, we are in good company, along with *633a distinguished federal court of appeals. First Nat’l Bank v. Pursue Energy Corp., 784 F.2d 659 (5th Cir.1986), vacated by, 799 F.2d 149 (5th Cir.1986). Pursue involved the same legal issue, the identical lease provision, and comparable controversy on the panel. At last, however, that court decided the issue on the merits, something we have not yet done in two attempts.

The parties agree on little, except that 1) this lease is not ambiguous, 2) it needs to be authoritatively construed by the Texas Supreme Court,…