rule of capture
Defined in 1 dictionary — Case Law
Definitions from Case Law
From 310 U.S. 573 - Railroad Commission of Texas v. Rowan & Nichols Oil Co. · 1940Most cited · 339 citing opinions
the 'rule of capture' which subjects the lessee's interest to his neighbors' power to drain his oil away... Each leaseholder, that is to say, is at the mercy of all those who adjoin him, since oil is a fugacious mineral, the movements of which are not confined by the artificial boundaries of surface tracts