Opinion ID: 1830760
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Frio Contract

Text: ¶ 6. On January 9, 1996, Fortenberry and Frio entered into a drilling contract whereby Fortenberry agreed to drill a well permitted as the S.J. Braddock No. 1, located in Amite County, Mississippi. Frio, as operator of the well, agreed to pay Fortenberry $39,000 upon completion of the drilling and, in addition, day rates per 24 hours of $4,200 with drill pipe and $4,100 without drill pipe. The chancellor found there was $41,950 at issue at the time of trial. ¶ 7. The chancellor specifically found that $20,000 was intended to be used by Fortenberry to pay the Suppliers for supplies and/or services provided to Fortenberry during the drilling of the well, with the remainder of the contract price to be paid after Fortenberry provided Frio with lien releases for materials and/or services provided by third-party vendors and subcontractors. Additionally, the contract called for Fortenberry to move its drilling rig in and out of the drilling area. [1] The suppliers were not employed by Frio and had no contractual privity with Frio.