## Facts

- In 1943, George Calvert owned a 1/32 mineral interest in a 32,808.5-acre tract.
- Calvert executed a document titled “Mineral Deed” conveying to Capton M. Paul an undivided “Fifty (50) acre interest,” stated as “an undivided 1/656.17th interest in and to all of the oil, gas and other minerals, in, under and that may be produced from” the described lands.
- A separate paragraph stated the conveyance was a “royalty interest only,” and provided that the grantee would have no interest in delay rentals, leasing revenues, or control over leasing.
- The deed expressly reserved to the grantor the power to lease and related rights.
- The grantee’s successor (the Fuller Trust) claimed the deed conveyed a fixed royalty equal to 1/656.17 of all oil and gas produced from the entire tract.
- The grantor’s successors (including Chevron and others) claimed the deed conveyed only a 1/656.17 fractional mineral interest, with the grantor reserving key incidents of ownership, leaving the grantee entitled only to a corresponding share of the lessor’s royalty under leases.

## Issues

1. Whether the deed conveyed a fixed royalty equal to 1/656.17 of total production from the tract.
2. Whether the deed instead conveyed a fractional mineral interest (1/656.17 of the mineral estate) with reservations to the grantor of leasing and related rights, so the grantee receives only 1/656.17 of the lessor’s royalty.

## Decision

- The Texas Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the grantor’s successors.
- The Court held the deed conveyed a fractional mineral interest with reservations, not a fixed royalty carved from gross production.
- The grantee’s successor was entitled only to a 1/656.17 share of whatever royalty the mineral owner reserved under any lease, not 1/656.17 of all production.

## Legal Principles

- Deed construction focuses on the parties’ intent as expressed within the four corners of the instrument, reading provisions together and harmonizing them when possible.
- A mineral interest is a bundle of rights (including leasing, bonus, delay rentals, development, and royalty) that may be conveyed while reserving some incidents to the grantor.
- Grant language conveying an undivided fractional interest “in and to” oil, gas, and minerals, combined with express reservations of leasing and related benefits to the grantor, generally indicates a mineral conveyance with reservations rather than a pure fixed royalty interest.
- The phrase “royalty interest only,” when used alongside mineral-type grant language and extensive reservations, may describe the only incident of the conveyed mineral interest left to the grantee, not a fixed fraction of production.
- Absent clear language tying the conveyed fraction directly to production (as opposed to a fraction “in and to” the minerals), courts will treat the grantee’s benefit as a fraction of the lessor’s royalty under leases rather than a fixed royalty payable from gross production.

## Conclusion

The Court construed the deed as granting a fractional mineral interest stripped of leasing and related rights by reservation, leaving the grantee with only a corresponding fraction of the lessor’s royalty, and not a fixed royalty interest in total production.


French v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., 896 S.W.2d 795 (Tex. 1995)