Texas Appeals Court Refuses to Add Width to Pipeline Easement

In Premcor Pipeline Co. v. Wingate, No. 09-22-00117-CV (Tex. Civ. App. Apr. 11, 2024), the Court considered a dispute regarding Premcor’s use of Wingate’s roads and bridges to service its pipelines. Wingate filed suit for injunctive relief and for a declaratory judgment to limit Premcor’s access to a fixed width adjacent to the pipelines. The pipeline easements did not set a width for the easements and did not contain any limitation on the use of the land crossed by the pipelines.

The trial court issued an injunction restraining Premcor from using any of Wingate’s property located more than ten feet on either side of the centerline of the route of its pipelines.

The Beaumont Court of Appeals reversed and held that because the grants of Premcor’s easements were not limited to a fixed width, the trial court’s supplying a width based on extrinsic evidence was erroneous. The Court of Appeals held that the grant of a general easement without a fixed width does not render the easement ambiguous, and that the easements had to be interpreted as a matter of law without considering extrinsic evidence that would contradict, vary, or add to the terms of the unambiguous easements. The Court noted that Premcor’s use was limited to what was reasonably necessary.

This case illustrates the importance of careful drafting for a pipeline easement. Not only should the width of the easement be specified, but also the easement should limit the pipeline company’s use of land outside the easement itself.