Opinion ID: 151845
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Working Interest Unit Agreement

Text: At issue in this case is Tawes' liability, as a Consenting Party, for royalty respecting production from the Baker-Barnes 1 & 2 wells under the WIUA and JOA. The WIUA, in a section titled Lease Burdens, provided: Each Party hereto shall bear and be responsible for their own lease burdens including, but not limited to their Lessor's royalty, overriding royalty along with any and all other royalty burdens which may have been created by the party contributing the lease or leases to this Working Interest Unit. Further, in a section titled Provision V, it also provided that: Moose Oil & Gas Company shall be the liable party to the Operator for the entire forty-six percent (46%) working interest within the Working Interest Unit for the parties hereinabove referred to as Moose [including Tawes]. Moose Oil & Gas Company shall be the responsible party, for each of said parties, to the Operator for obtaining and delivering any and all elections, notices, invoices payments and billings. Should one or more Moose parties decide not to participate in a proposed operation, the participating Moose party or parties shall have the option of disbursing the non-participating Moose parties interest proportionately among the participating Moose parties. Finally, in an section titled Lease Rentals, the WIUA stated: Rentals, shut-in payments, or minimum royalties which may become due on leases committed hereto shall be paid by the contributor of the lease to the Working Interest Unit. It is the obligation of the contributing Lessee to maintain its own lease or Leases subject to this Agreement. The parties agreed in the WIUA that it would be governed by the JOA that was attached as an exhibit to the WIUA.