Champlin Refining Co. v. Aladdin Petroleum Corp.

Believing it owned certain land, Oklahoma leased mineral rights on it to Champlin Refining Company (defendant), which drilled two producing wells and one nonproducing well in good faith. A separate proceeding later determined Oklahoma never actually held title, so the wells were ordered turned over to the true owners, Aladdin Petroleum Company and Phillips Petroleum Company (plaintiffs), and Champlin paid them the market value of the minerals as of the date of production, minus drilling and operating costs. The plaintiffs then sued Champlin for conversion, seeking the higher market value of the minerals as of the time of trial rather than production — filed five years after the conversion of Aladdin's interest and seventeen months after Phillips's. The trial court awarded the plaintiffs the higher trial-date value and refused to let Champlin offset the costs of the nonproducing well, and Champlin appealed.