Bless the Pure and Humble Texas Lawyers and Oil Regulation, 1919–1936 by Nicholas George Malavis

When oil was first discovered in America, the courts were ill-prepared to deal with the legal issues it raised. This study of the development of petroleum regulation offers historical and legal analyses of the basic issues affecting property rights and the public interest. Access to the internal records of the Vinson and Elkins law firm has allowed the author to trace the legal moves that shaped a new regulatory system centered around the Texas Railroad Commission.

Since underground reservoirs of oil crossed property lines, judges originally resorted to the "rule of capture" to determine ownership; the person who extracted the oil had full rights to it. In the massive 1920s oil boom in Texas, this rule precipitated a series of crises, forcing operators and royalty owners to produce all they could regardless of market conditions.

By 1927 pressure was mounting for federal regulation of petroleum production. Attorneys in the Houston firm of Vinson and Elkins joined efforts by Pure Oil (the producer) and Humble Oil (the buyer and pipeline owner) to develop unitization rules for the 5,400-acre Yates Oil Field in Pecos County, Texas. Amid their legal maneuvering the Texas Railroad Commission stepped in, issuing a proration rule. The ensuing conflict represented legal and ideological clashes between principles of laissez-faire and progressive regulation, with the states ultimately winning the battle to control petroleum production.

NICHOLAS GEORGE MALAVIS has a Ph.D. in legal history from Rice University and practices law in Houston.

Number Eight:
Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business History

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Bless the Pure and Humble
ISBN 0-89096-714-8 cloth $44.95s

LC 96-19245. 6x9. 344 pp. 5 b&w photos. Gloss. Bib. Index.
Business History. Texas History.

Publication Date: October 1996.

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