Oil & Gas

Oil and gas law is an area of the law unique to certain parts of the United States where this industry is concentrated. Dealing with oil and gas issues requires familiarity with and specialized knowledge of often complex legal principles. At Leach, Sullivan, Sullivan & Watkins, we have dealt with many of the issues that arise in the oil and gas mineral leasing context.

Our firm handles royalty issues from the perspective of the royalty owners. Mineral owners lease their minerals to various operators, retaining a right to a royalty, or percentage of the production. Sometimes, the operators do not pay the royalty owners, or they give the money to the wrong people. We have successfully obtained royalties for wronged mineral owners on numerous occasions when operators fail to pay what is due. In some cases, an operator or other third party will claim to "adversely possess" minerals, meaning that the true owner has failed to make a claim for the minerals for a certain period of time, and the operator or other third party claims that they now own the minerals. In such an adverse possession suit, our oil and gas attorneys have made law in Oklahoma that affects these types of actions, and settled with the operator for a sizeable amount of royalties.

Occasionally, an oil company will drill on land and abuse the property. The owner of the property's surface (surface owner) can bring an action against the oil company for a nuisance or for the damage actually caused by the company up to the value of the property. We have handled these types of nuisance actions for the surface owners, as well as actions for groundwater contamination.

If you are in need of an experienced oil and gas attorney in Oklahoma, please do not hesitate to call Leach, Sullivan, Sullivan & Watkins at (580) 255-1111, or fill out the form on the Contact Us page of this website and someone from the firm will be in contact with you shortly.