Analyzing and Curing Title Requirements in Oil and Gas Title Opinions or "What's That Fly Doing in My Soup?"

For the most part, this paper is addressed to the landman rather than the title examiner and begins with that point in time when the title opinion appears on the landman's desk. There are many excellent, straightforward, and thorough how-to books and articles on the subject addressed to the title examiner.1 However, there are relatively few resources to aid the landman in review of title opinions. The issues that must be resolved by the title examiner and the landman [20-4] will, of course, overlap. The same considerations which a title examiner must take into account when examining title are also involved when a landman analyzes a title opinion and determines whether adequate, alternative, curative measures exist for a particular requirement or whether curative action can be postponed or a requirement safely waived. Both the landman and the title examiner can benefit from a close look at the mechanics and organization of a title opinion.