This is a Producers 88 -Paid Up lease, so I assume it contains pretty standard language, limited or changed only by what is in it's Exhibit A. I believe Clause 12 has the force majure clause you mentioned: "Production, drilling, or reworking operations or a well shut in for want of a market anywhere on a unit which includes all or a part of this lease shall be treated as if it were production, drilling, or reworking operations or a well shut in for want of a market under this lease."
What is "for want of a market?" I did some quick searches on the forum & with Google, didn't find much. Does this simply mean that the well can produce oil & gas, but due to the lack of a pipeline or another way to get it to market, it is shut in? If that is the case, we then will have to find out why the well is considered shut-in before we should pursue a new lease, correct?
r w kennedy said:
KDK, I think you are going to need a legal opinion on that, whether it is two years from cessation of production or simply two years past the primary term. There can be other things in the lease such as the force majure clause, which may state that the operator may maintain the shut in well by shut in payments for lack of a market. I'd have to see the whole thing to give an informed opinion, and it would be my opinion, not a lawyers.