Now north line of Parks field in the C. B Haley lease 13,500 water well permited
Question needs answer and we are sure Texas house and senate as well as Exxon etal are all in on this.
after years of no offers, now large ones and many
Which county? Mine: All Mine? Texas Ownership of Produced Water and Its Constituent Parts (Lithium) – Jackson Walker
Although there is much more in the long and complex paper, this is an interesting excerpt:
…Concluding, however, that the surface destruction test “has resulted in title uncertainty,” the Texas Supreme Court ruled that “title to uranium is held by mineral estate as a matter of law” and announced a return to the ordinary and natural meaning test for mineral severances after June 8, 1983.[111]** The court succinctly proposed the ordinary and natural meaning rule as follows:**
**[A] severance of minerals in an oil, gas and other minerals clause includes all substances within the ordinary and natural meaning of that word, whether their presence or value is known at the time of severance.[112]
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- The Tests Applied to Lithium
Although there is no Texas case law directly on the question, it is probable that lithium is a mineral when analyzed through either the lens of the ordinary and natural meaning test (post-1983) or the surface destruction test (pre-1983).
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The alternate view is that a well drilled specifically for brine (not as part of the oil and gas stream of fluids) and the associated minerals is owned by the surface owner. Perhaps one of the TX attorneys can comment.
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Operators own the water per current Texas law. If you’re signing a lease, you’ll need to reserve the rights to any minerals in the water. Highly recommend finding a good Texas attorney to assist you with the language. My attorney is including language for my cousins that will include uranium, sulfur, and lithium, etc. to protect their rights.
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What is the block and section of the ‘13500water well’ and have others been drilled or permitted? Probably a lot of questions about this topic. Thanks.CJ
I just ran across this article about stripping lithium from brine in Texas Monthly. It discusses the state of technology and also some lease rates in East TX.
I believe there are 2 main scenarios here: 1) wells drilled to extract brine water, which would generally be ruled by surface rights (unless reserved by another party). 2) wells to extract hydrocarbons under an oil & gas lease with water produced as a by-product. So different laws are in play, including contract language.
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