Crystal Oil Co. v. Warmack

David Newbern, Justice.

This is an accounting case involving oil and gas leases. The appellee, Donald L. Warmack, sued the appellants, Crystal Oil Company (Crystal) and Nevada Oil Operators (Nevada), claiming he, instead of they, should have been paid royalties on a mineral leasehold. His claim was based on the allegation that the 1963 lease, under which Crystal and Nevada claimed the royalties, had expired because of breach of the implied covenant to develop, thus activating his 1979 “top lease” prior to the payment of the royalties which occurred sometime after 1985.

Crystal and Nevada…