Access to Leased Premises Not Limited by Water Purchase Agreement

The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently decided a case involving access to the Leased Premises. That case was Davenport v. EOG Resources, Inc. (2026 WL 181109). The Leased Premises was a ranch owned by the Davenport in Webb County, Texas. The ranch was burdened by a lease signed in 1967. The current lease operator was EOG.

Davenport entered into a Water Purchase Agreement with EOG for the use of water from the Leased Premises. The Agreement provided in part: “EOG shall enter and exit the [Davenports’] Lands through the Krueger Rd. gate. EOG agrees to use existing roads that will be designated by Grantor (“Designated Roads”) over [the Davenports’] Lands covered hereby for ingress and egress to the Frac Pond and/or designated water wells and agrees to maintain such roads in good condition at all times. . .”.

Davenport asserted that this limitation on access applied to all EOG’s activities on the Leased Premises. EOG claimed that the limitation in the Water Purchase Agreement was only for travel to the water sources.

The Court agreed with EOG. The Court noted that the first sentence of the quoted language would seem to support the Davenport’s position, however, the paragraph must be read as a whole. Looking at all the language of the quoted paragraph, the Court held that it applied only to EOG’s water access, and not to all lease activities.

There were other claims between the parties which were also decided in favor of EOG. The Court ended up entering a judgment against Davenport for $14,954,784.00.