The U.S. oil-and-gas industry is bracing for a game of monkey in the middle. Even as prices have plunged over the past 20 months or so, the one part of the industry where profits have held up is for those companies playing a middleman role. Now, a Texas legal ruling threatens the safety of those companies’ cash flows and may give a boost to some troubled producers. That is telling for investors more broadly. At the heart of the legal argument is whether certain types of contracts run “with the land”—that is, if they apply to any owner of a lease. For companies that own pipelines and other infrastructure necessary to process and move oil and gas, the distinction matters. Dozens of producers already have filed for bankruptcy. An even greater number may do so in 2016 as prices remain […]