Colpitt v. Tull

The majority opinion is based upon the case of Doss Oil Royalty Co. v. Texas Co., 192 Okla. 359, 137 P. 2d 934, decided by this court in 1943. For approximately thirty years prior to that decision, this court had adhered to what is generally referred to as the “reasonably prudent operator rule” in determining whether or not a lessee forfeited his leasehold rights, after initial production in paying quantities had been obtained, by failure to further develop by drilling additional wells. Until the Doss decision in 1943, the prevailing rule was that to justify cancellation of all, or all except…