Opinion ID: 2101186
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the olson lease

Text: On June 7, 1949, Earl Monson and Twila Monson executed and delivered an oil and gas lease to Stanolind Oil and Gas Company. The lease conveyed certain oil and gas interests in and under the East Half (E ½) of Section Eighteen (18), Township One Hundred Sixty-two (162), Range Ninety (90) West, in Burke County. The sole consideration for this lease was either delay rentals or a one-eighth royalty from production. The term of the lease was for ten years and as long thereafter as oil or gas, or either of them, is produced from said land by the lessee. In 1958, within the primary term of the lease, a well was drilled resulting in production on the Northwest Quarter of the Northeast Quarter (NW ¼ NE ¼) of Section 18. This well has been producing oil in paying quantities since that time with only occasional interruptions during the winter months. In 1962 the defendant, Earl Schwartz, acquired an interest in the East Half of the Northeast Quarter (E ½ NE ¼) and the West Half of the Southeast Quarter (W ½ SE ¼) of Section 18. The remainder of the leasehold, including the existing well, was acquired by the defendant, Vern Lund, in 1969. Lund has been the sole operator of the well since that time. The plaintiff, Theodore Olson, is one of several holders of the mineral interest in the leasehold. The leasehold contains 320 acres and is subject to 160-acre spacing. All parties concede that there has been no exploration or development of the leasehold since the original well was drilled in 1958, in spite of the fact that spacing is available for an additional well on the Southeast Quarter (SE ¼) of Section 18.