Hogan Thompson Schuelke Wins Appeal for Mewbourne in Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals

Hogan Thompson Schuelke secured an appellate win for Mewbourne Oil Company in the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, which affirmed the trial court’s decision in Yukon Trading Company v. Mewbourne Oil Company.

Hogan Thompson Schuelke represented Mewbourne in the top lease dispute in Dewey County, Oklahoma. After discovering that Mewbourne planned to drill valuable horizontal wells on certain property, the Plaintiff obtained top leases from several lessors of the property and claimed that Mewbourne’s leases terminated, and the top leases were in effect. As a result, the Plaintiff claimed a significant portion of Mewbourne’s interest in the new wells belonged to the Plaintiff. After the parties moved for summary judgment, the trial court ruled in favor of Mewbourne. Following an appeal, the Oklahoma Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court decision. The Plaintiff has petitioned the Oklahoma Supreme Court to take the case. 

This case concerns the prolific issue of lease termination and top leasing and implicates the application of the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s February 2023 decision in Tres C, LLC v. Raker Resources, LLC, 2023 OK 13, on lease terminations due to cessation of production. These termination claims can determine ownership of valuable oil and gas properties and thus can be worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars for certain operators.

Chris Hogan, Samantha Thompson and Cody Rutowski handled the case for Hogan Thompson Schuelke.