Having Your Cake and Condemning It Too: When Asserting the Power of Eminent Domain Constitutes Breach of an Oil and Gas Lease

Authors

John Allen Chalk Sr.
Rebecca K. Eaton

Publication Date

10-1-2010

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The rapid increase in urban drilling for oil and gas in Texas, especially the shale natural gas plays that have become major producers of energy in Texas and other parts of the United States, have created new concerns for surface owners who also own the related minerals. One question is, how can land and mineral owners limit or prohibit surface use while leasing the minerals to producers? The advent of horizontal drilling that permits exploitation of leased minerals from off-site drilling locations prompts this new concern. The following is a scenario that frequently occurs in the current development and production of oil and natural gas, especially where minerals that a landowner leases are associated with a surface that the landowner concurrently uses for residential or commercial purposes.

DOI

10.37419/TWLR.V17.I1.2

First Page

29

Last Page

46

Recommended Citation

John A. Chalk Sr. & Rebecca K. Eaton, Having Your Cake and Condemning It Too: When Asserting the Power of Eminent Domain Constitutes Breach of an Oil and Gas Lease, 17 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 29 (2010).
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/TWLR.V17.I1.2