Mullinnix, LLC v. HKB Royalty Trust
Supreme Court of Wyoming
126 P.3d 909 (2006)
A 1944 deed conveyed land while reserving 'one-half of all oil and commercial gravel rights' to the grantors; decades later, successors to the original grantee, including Groves (plaintiff), sued to quiet title to the property's gas rights, while John Hickman (defendant), successor to the original grantors, countersued claiming the 'oil rights' reservation included all minerals, including gas. Trial testimony established that 'oil rights' was sometimes used informally in the industry to mean all mineral rights, but that formal instruments like deeds typically specified minerals precisely, and Groves introduced other 1940s-era deeds specifically referencing both oil and gas separately; the trial court ruled for Groves, and Hickman appealed.
Whether, in construing a deed conveying or reserving mineral rights, a court may look to the facts and circumstances surrounding the deed's execution, including trade usage at the time, to determine its meaning.