![]() The meaning of a “double-fraction” clause and the impact on future oil and gas conveyances – it’s the topic of today’s post.Ī royalty interest is an interest in a share of production, or the value or proceeds of production, free of the costs of production, when and if there is production. That case involved the construction of a 1924 deed containing a mineral reservation clause, and it could have wide-ranging impact on oil and gas titles in Texas and, perhaps, elsewhere. ![]() ![]() The interpretive issues associated with a double fraction clause recently came up again in a Texas case. It also occurs when a conveyancing instrument refers to both “minerals” and a “royalty” or blends the two concepts in the same instrument. For instance, if Bubba owns an undivided ½ interest in minerals and conveys “an undivided ½ interest in the minerals,” does that mean that Bubba conveyed a ½ interest in all of the minerals or simply ½ of Bubba’s ½? This interpretive issue can also arise when mineral interests are devised from a decedent’s estate. That’s a clause that creates uncertainty as to whether the grant or reservation is a fraction of what the grantor owns or a fraction of the whole interest. One way that can happen is when a “double fraction” clause is used. A common interpretive problem in oil and gas conveyances and leases arises when the owner of a fractional mineral interest either conveys or reserves a fraction using unclear language.
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