Abstracts of Current Decisions on Mines and Mining: May to August, 1917 Page: 83
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MINING LEASES.
CONSTRUCTION-APPLICATION OF PAYMENTS.
An oil and gas lease provided that the lessee should complete a
well on the leased premises within three months of its date or pay
at the rate of $20 for each additional three months the completion was
delayed. But the lease was silent as to the time at which such
rentals should be paid. The lease also contained a provision whereby
in consideration of $1 the lessor waived his right to declare a can-
cellation or forfeiture thereof, except for the nonpayment of rentals
when due. It also contained a further provision which authorized
the lessee at any time on the payment of $1 to surrender the lease
for cancellation and thereupon all payments and liabilities thereafter
to accrue should cease. At the time the lease was executed it was
agreed that the rentals as provided should be due and payable in
advance, and pursuant to this arrangement or agreement rentals
were for a time paid in advance of the three months' period for
which they were due. In an action involving the rights of the
lessee the lease must be construed, in the light of the action of the
parties as requiring the rentals due thereunder to be paid in advance,
and if not paid for the term for which they are due, the lessor may,
under the forfeiture clause, declare a forfeiture of the lease for the
nonpayment of rentals when due and on such declaration by the lessor
all rights of the lessee are to terminate, and he can not thereafter
have specific performance of the lease either directly or indirectly
by means of an injunction enjoining the lessor from interfering with
his explorations for oil and gas.
Bearman v. Dux Oil & Gas Co. (Oklahoma), 166 Pacific 199, . 201.
OPTIONAL LEASE--CONSTRUCTION.
The rule of construction as applied to oil and gas leases in Okla-
homa is that where contracts are optional in respect to one party
they are strictly construed in favor of the party that is bound and
against the party that is not bound.
Bearman v. Dux Oil & Gas Co. (Oklahoma), 166 Pacific 199, p. 200.
CONSTRUCTION-MEASUREMENT OF GAS.
An oil and gas lease provided that the lessee was to deliver to
the lessor one-sixth of the oil found and that any gas found should
be measured by a meter at the well; that if more than one well was
drilled all the gas should be connected in one system of pipes and a
meter or measuring station installed on the premises and the lessor
should receive as royalty for the gas sold 22 cents per 1,000 cubic
feet. This lease means that a meter should be put upon the land
and the gas passed through it from the well or wells and that the
165430-17-Bull. 159-783
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Thompson, Joseph Wesley. Abstracts of Current Decisions on Mines and Mining: May to August, 1917, report, December 1917; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc38745/m1/97/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.