Covington v. Exxon Co., U.S.A.

This appeal arises from a dispute over royalties under an oil and gas lease. The plaintiffs, John W. Covington III and Linda T. Covington (hereinafter the "Covingtons"), sued their lessee, Ben R. Martin, Jr., and Exxon Company, U.S.A. (hereinafter "Exxon"), the operator of the gas well. The Covingtons claimed that the defendants acted wrongfully in placing their royalty interest in a suspense status based upon an attorney's title opinion that stated that an ambiguity existed in a deed as to the ownership of the mineral interests. The trial court granted Exxon's motion for directed verdict.…