Anderson v. Corporation Commission
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
327 P.2d 699 (Okla. 1957)
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (defendant) designated Anderson's (plaintiff) and Ellison's adjoining 40-acre tracts as a single drilling unit and, after Ellison sought to drill, gave Anderson the choice to fully participate in production costs or instead accept a bonus lease payment; Anderson argued the Commission's earlier order made him and Ellison common-law tenants in common, entitling him to have his share of costs deducted only from production revenue rather than paid up front.
Whether, when a relationship in the nature of a tenancy in common results merely as an incident to the application of a government's police powers, the parties can successfully assert their common law rights as tenants in common.