123062P.pdf   05/15/2014  Phillip Armstrong  v.  Berco Resources, LLC
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  12-3062
   U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota - Bismarck   
   [PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Riley, Chief Judge, and Kelly, Circuit 
   Judge] 
   Civil case - contracts. The district court did not err in concluding that 
   the purchase agreement and assignment, taken together, transferred a 
   wellbore-only interest to plaintiff rather than a leasehold interest in 
   the property on which the two wells were located; while the agreements 
   were ambiguous, the testimony the court heard regarding the parties' 
   intent, as well as custom and useage in the oil and gas industry, 
   supported the district court's conclusion; as plaintiff had only an 
   interest in the wellbores and did not allege that defendant interfered 
   with his use of them, the court did not err in dismissing his trespass 
   claim; since plaintiff did not have a leasehold interest, he failed to 
   satisfy a condition precedent in an agreement with defendant Encore, and 
   the court did not err in finding for Encore on plaintiff's claim for 
   breach of contract; it is undisputed that plaintiff altered the assignment 
   he recorded without obtaining the grantor's signature and acknowledgment, 
   and the deed was null and void under North Dakota law.