Opinion ID: 6108814
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Top Leases

Text: As this Court has explained, Basically, a top lease is a subsequent oil and gas lease which covers one or more mineral interests that are subject to a valid, subsisting prior lease. BP Am. Prod. Co. v. Laddex, Ltd. , 513 S.W.3d 476 , 478 n.1 (Tex. 2017) (quoting Michael L. Brown, Effect of Top Leases: Obstruction of Title and Related Considerations , 30 BAYLOR L. REV. 213, 213 (1978) ). Although our basic explanation of what a top lease is did not expressly say so, commentators accept that a top lease becomes effective as to those mineral interests subject to a bottom lease only upon termination of the bottom lease. See, e.g. , NORMAN J. HYNE, DICTIONARY OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION, DRILLING & PRODUCTION 530 (1991) ([A top lease is an] oil and gas lease on acreage that currently has a valid lease called the bottom lease. When the bottom lease expires, the top lease becomes effective.); 8 HOWARD R. WILLIAMS & CHARLES J. MEYERS, OIL AND GAS LAW: MANUAL OF OIL AND GAS TERMS 1081 (LexisNexis Matthew Bender 2017) (defining top lease as a lease granted by a landowner during the existence of a recorded mineral lease which is to become effective if and when the existing lease expires or is terminated); see also 1 ERNEST E. SMITH & JACQUELINE LANG WEAVER, TEXAS LAW OF OIL AND GAS § 4.5[F] (2d ed. 2015) (By their nature, top leases delay the new lessee's rights until the termination of an existing lease.).