## Facts

- In July 1977, the prior surface owner executed an oil and gas lease covering the property.
- In 1979, the lessee drilled and completed a producing well; the then-operator paid the lessor for “all location damages” and obtained a release for those damages.
- In January 1981, the prior owner conveyed the surface estate by warranty deed to Bobbye Farrar Bonds.
- In December 1984, Sanchez-O’Brien (the operator/lessee) plugged and abandoned the well.
- After abandonment, the operator left surface conditions and materials associated with operations, including water pits, concrete slabs, dams, and rock used at the well location.
- Bonds sued for damages, alleging the operator had an implied duty to restore the surface to its pre-drilling condition as nearly as practicable by removing the remaining structures and debris.

## Issues

1. Whether, absent an express contractual provision or statute, an oil and gas lessee/operator has an implied duty upon cessation of production or abandonment to restore the surface, as nearly as practicable, to its pre-drilling condition.

## Decision

- The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s judgment for the operator.
- The court held, as a matter of first impression in Arkansas, that an oil and gas lessee/operator has an implied duty to restore the surface, as nearly as practicable, upon termination of production or drilling of a dry hole, unless the parties contract otherwise.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with recognition of the implied duty.

## Legal Principles

- The mineral lessee’s implied right to use the surface for exploration and production is limited by reasonableness and “due regard” for the surface owner’s rights.
- When operations permanently cease, leaving artificial conditions and debris not reasonably necessary for production can constitute unreasonable, continuing surface injury.
- An implied duty of reasonable surface restoration may be recognized as a correlative obligation to the lessee’s implied surface easement, even without a reclamation statute.
- The restoration standard is “as nearly as practicable,” reflecting a reasonableness limitation rather than a requirement of perfect restoration.
- The parties may alter or eliminate restoration obligations by express agreement; absent such an agreement, the duty is implied at abandonment.

## Conclusion

The court held that, in Arkansas, an oil and gas operator must reasonably restore the surface—removing leftover operational structures and debris and returning the land as nearly as practicable to its prior condition—when production ends and the well is abandoned, unless an express contract provides otherwise.


Bonds v. Sanchez-O’Brien Oil & Gas Co., 715 S.W.2d 444 (Ark. 1986)