## Facts

- Lessors (Samano and others) and lessees (Sun Oil Company and Tanya Oil Company) executed an oil and gas lease on March 29, 1934, with a ten-year primary term ending March 29, 1944.
- The habendum clause extended the lease beyond the primary term “as long thereafter as” minerals were produced, or “as long thereafter as” the lessee conducted drilling or reworking operations “with no cessation of more than sixty consecutive days until production results.”
- Production in paying quantities extended the lease into the secondary term.
- Production stopped on May 4, 1977.
- For the next 73 consecutive days, Sun had neither production nor drilling or reworking operations; Sun did not act to restore production until July 15, 1977.
- Samano sought declaratory relief that the lease terminated under the habendum clause; the trial court granted summary judgment for Samano.
- The court of civil appeals reversed, limiting the 60-day clause to operations occurring at the end of the primary term.
- The Supreme Court of Texas granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether the habendum clause’s “no cessation of more than sixty consecutive days” limitation on drilling or reworking operations applies during the secondary term, so that a 73-day period with neither production nor operations terminates the lease.
2. Whether the temporary cessation of production doctrine can prevent termination despite an express contractual 60-day cessation limit.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Texas reversed the court of civil appeals and affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment for Samano.
- The court held the 60-day cessation limitation applies during the secondary term.
- Because Sun allowed a 73-day period with neither production nor drilling/reworking operations, the lease terminated by its terms.
- The court rejected Sun’s reliance on the temporary cessation doctrine because the lease contained an express time limit governing cessation.

## Legal Principles

- A habendum clause extending a lease “as long thereafter” as drilling or reworking operations are conducted “with no cessation of more than” a stated number of consecutive days applies in the secondary term unless the lease text limits it to the end of the primary term.
- When parties include an express time limitation governing cessation of operations/production necessary to maintain the lease, that contractual limit controls.
- The common-law temporary cessation doctrine applies, if at all, in the absence of an express contractual time limit; it cannot be used to extend a bargained-for maximum cessation period.

## Conclusion

The court enforced the lease’s express continuous-operations limitation in the secondary term, holding that a 73-day gap without production or drilling/reworking exceeded the 60-day contractual cap and caused automatic termination, without resort to the temporary cessation doctrine.


Samano v. Sun Oil Co., 621 S.W.2d 580 (Tex. 1981)