[Download] "William A. Wiggins and Wiggins Brothers v. Enserch Exploration" by Fifth District, Dallas No. 05-86-01180-CV Court of Appeals of Texas # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: William A. Wiggins and Wiggins Brothers v. Enserch Exploration
- Author : Fifth District, Dallas No. 05-86-01180-CV Court of Appeals of Texas
- Release Date : January 11, 1987
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 77 KB
Description
Opinion BY JUSTICE HOWELL William R. Wiggins and Wiggins Brothers, Inc. appeal the district court's order certifying Wiggins Brothers, Inc. (defendant) as the representative of a class of defendants consisting of the royalty interest owners in the Opelika Gas Unit situated in Henderson County, Texas.1 In three points of error, defendant asserts that the district court abused its discretion in concluding that the facts of this case meet the requirements of Rule 42 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Because defendant's contentions are without merit, we affirm the trial court's certification order. Enserch Exploration, Inc. and E P Operating Company (plaintiffs) sued William R. Wiggins and defendant, seeking a declaratory judgment construing several pooling agreements each of which contains an identical royalty provision. The several pooling agreements were combined to form the unit.2 A dispute exists as to whether royalties due on gas produced from the unit that is sold and delivered to unaffiliated third parties at the tailgate of the Opelika processing plant should be based on the market price at the wells or on the proceeds that plaintiffs actually receive from the sale of such gas. Plaintiffs contend that royalties are determinable on the latter basis while defendant contends that royalties are to be based on the market price at the well. Plaintiffs also allege that all or most of the royalty owners in the unit have been overpaid in the past because plaintiffs have erroneously followed the wellhead basis. In addition to declaratory relief, plaintiffs seek recovery of the alleged overpayments. In order to obtain relief against the approximately 1300 royalty owners, plaintiffs filed a motion to certify all royalty owners in the unit as a class of defendants and to certify defendant as the class representative. The district court granted plaintiffs' motion for certification and defendant has appealed.