Matrix Production Co. v. Ricks Exploration, Inc.

OPINION

FRY, Judge.

{1} This oil and gas case arises out of a model form joint operating agreement (JOA) to explore and develop minerals in Lea County, New Mexico, between the co-lessees of the mineral estate. “Form 610 Model Operating Agreement has been in use in the oil and gas industry in one form or another since 1956.” John R. Reeves & J. Matthew Thompson, The Development of the Model Form Operating Agreement: An Interpretive Accounting, 54 Okla. L.Rev. 211, 213 (2001). As this Court observed in Nearburg v. Yates Petroleum Corp., 1997-NMCA-069, ¶ 2, 123 N.M. 526, 943 P.2d 560, “Operating…