The oil royalties which producers pay landowners should be calculated at the well, not at a higher price at some point downstream, the North Dakota Supreme Court said this week in a win for the oil industry. The Supreme Court of one of the largest U.S. oil-producing states was asked by a lower court to clarify language in landowners’ contracts with oil companies. The plaintiffs David and Paula Blasi have argued that they had been underpaid royalties that oil firms owe them to pump oil on their land. The plaintiffs and their lawyers argued that as per the oil royalty contract clauses and the presence of the word “pipeline” in those contracts, oil royalties should be calculated at a point downstream at a connection with an actual pipeline. Since this place is closer to markets, it makes royalties higher. The Supreme Court of North Dakota was asked to clarify […]