BNSF Railway Co. v. Chevron Midcontinent, L.P.

OPINION

YVONNE T. RODRIGUEZ, Justice

He who owns the soil owns everything from the heights of Heaven down to the depths of Hell'—or so the old Latin maxim goes.1 If only Texas land law was that simple.

After learning that the defendants (collectively “Chevron”) struck oil underneath railroad tracks in Upton County, Texas, BNSF Railway Company sued for trespass to try title, arguing that a 1903 deed granted to BNSF’s predecessor gave the company not just a right of way easement, but the entire strip of land described in the deed—from Heaven to Hell—in fee simple absolute. Chevron countered that…