I. Oil and gas permits-Continued. 12. Preference right of owner of surface-Continued. (c) Life of preference right_. (d) Holdings may be combined_. Page. 19 (b) Preference-right applicant to show right_. 19 19 19 OIL AND GAS REGULATIONS. See Amendments, p. 32. Under the authority of the act of Congress approved February 25, 1920, entitled "An act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain," the following rules and regulations are prescribed for the administration of the provisions of said act relative to oil and gas: I. OIL AND GAS PERMIT. Section 13 of the act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to grant a qualified applicant the exclusive right to prospect for oil or gas for the period of two years, unless extended, and under authority thereof the following rules and regulations will govern the issuance of such permits: 1. QUALIFICATIONS OF APPLICANTS.-Pursuant to section 1 of the act, permits may be issued to (a) a citizen of the United States; (b) an association of such citizens; (c) a corporation organized under the laws of the United States or of any State or Territory thereof, provided that no stockholders are citizens or nonreciprocating countries, as provided in section 1 of the act; or (d) a municipality. (Amended. See p. 32.) 2. LANDS TO WHICH APPLICABLE. The permit thus issued may include not more than 2,560 acres of land wherein such deposits belong to the United States and are not within any known geological structure of a producing oil or gas field, the lands applied for to be taken in a reasonably compact form, by legal subdivisions if surveyed, and in an approximately square or rectangular tract if unsurveyed, the length of which must not exceed two and one-half times its width. Such leases may not include land or deposits in (a) national parks; (b) forests created under the act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat., 961), known as the Appalachian Forest Reserve act; (c) lands in military or naval reservations; nor (d) Indian reservations, or (e) ceded or restored Indian lands, the proceeds from the disposition of which are credited to the Indians. All permits or leases for the exploration for or development of oil or gas deposits under this act within the limits of national forests or other reservations or withdrawals to which this act is applicable shall be subject to and contain such conditions, stipulations and reservations as the Secretary of the Interior shall deem necessary for the protection of such forests, reservations or withdrawals, and the uses and purposes for which created. The boundaries of the geological structures of producing oil or gas fields will be determined by the United States Geological Survey, under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, and maps or diagrams showing same will be placed on file in local United States land offices. It should be understood that under the act, the granting of a prospecting permit for oil and gas is discretionary with the Secretary of the Interior, and any application may be granted or denied, either in part or in its entirety, as the facts may be deemed to warrant. 3. PERMITS OR LEASES FOR OTHER MINERALS.-The granting of a permit or lease for the development or production of oil or gas will not preclude other permits or leases of the same land for the mining of other minerals, under this act, with suitable stipulations for such joint operation, to the end that the full development of the mineral resources may be secured, nor will it preclude the allowance of applicable entries, locations, or selections of the lands included therein with a reservation of the mineral deposits to the United States. 4. FORM AND CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Applications for permits should be filed in the proper district land office, addressed to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, be suspended for 30 days to enable preference-right claims to be presented before action, and after due notation then forwarded for his consideration, with a full report as to status and conflicts. No specific form of application is required, and no blanks will be furnished, but it should cover, in substance, the following points, and be under oath: (a) Applicant's name and address. (b) Proof of citizenship of applicant, by affidavit of such fact, if native born; or if naturalized, by a certified copy of the certificate of naturalization on the form provided for use in public-land matters, unless such a copy is already on file; if a corporation, by certified copy of the articles of incorporation, and evidence that none of its stockholders are citizens of another country the laws, customs, and regulations of which deny similar or like privileges to citizens or corporations of this country; if a municipality a showing of (1) the law or charter and procedure taken by which it has become a legal body corporate; (2) that the taking of a permit or lease is authorized under such law or charter; and (3) that the action proposed has been duly authorized by the governing body of such municipality. (Amended. See p. 33.) (c) A statement that the applicant is not the holder of, and has no direct or Indirect interest in, any other subsisting permit, and that he has no other application pending for a permit. (Substituted. See p. 33.) (d) Description of the land for which the permit is desired, by legal subdivisions if surveyed, and by metes and bounds if unsurveyed, in which latter case, if deemed necessary, a survey sufficient more fully to identify the land may be required before the permit is granted. In order to properly identify unsurveyed lands, great care should be taken, and if possible the metes and bounds description should be connected by course and distance with some corner of the public land surveys. (e) Reasons why the land is believed to offer a favorable field for prospecting, together with the statement that to the best of applicant's knowledge and belief the land applied for is not within any known geological structure of a producing oil or gas field. (f) Proposed method of conducting exploratory operations, which must be in accordance with approved methods of exploration, amount of capital available for such operations, and the diligence with which such explorations will be prosecuted. (g) Statement of the applicant's experience in operations of this nature, together with references as to his reputation and business standing. (h) If the applicant is claiming a preference right as explained in the next succeeding section of these regulations, he should set up fully the facts upon which such preference right is based, together with a true copy of the posted notice. (1) The application must be accompanied by a bond with qualified corporate surety, in the sum of $1,000, conditioned against the failure of the permittee to repair promptly, so far as possible, any damage to the oil strata or deposits resulting from improper methods of operation. The penalty of the bond may be increased by the Secretary of the Interior when conditions warrant, particularly in relief cases. (Form of bond. See p. 34.) 5. PREFERENCE RIGHT, HOW SECURED.-A preference right over others to a permit may be obtained, under section 13 of the act, by (a) Erecting upon the land desired, subsequent to the approval of the act, a monument not less than 4 feet high, at some conspicuous place thereon, of such a size as to be visible to anyone who may be interested. The monument may be of iron, stone, or durable wood, not less than 4 inches square or in diameter, and must be firmly imbedded in the ground. (b) Posting on or near said monument a notice stating that an application for permit will be made within 30 days after date of posting said notice, the notice to give the date and hour of posting, to be signed by the applicant, and give such a general description of the land to be covered by the permit, by reference to courses and distances from such monument and other natural objects and permanent monuments, as will reasonably identify the land. The area, approximately, must also be stated, and the notice must be so protected as to prevent its destruction by the elements. The preference right will exist for 30 days after the date of posting such notice, and if no application is filed within that time, the land will be subject to any other application for permit or to other disposal. (c) In cases of conflict between a preference right application, and one filed without any claim of preference, the priority of the initiation of the claim will govern, for example, the filing of a proper application in the land office prior to the posting of notice by another, as aforesaid, will give a prior right. 6. FORM AND REQUIREMENT OF PERMIT.-A permit will confer upon the recipient the exclusive right to prospect for oil or gas upon the lands embraced therein, provided he complies with the terms thereof, which permit will be, in form and substance, substantially as follows: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. General Land Office. U. S. Land Office- Know all men by these presents, That the Secretary of the Interior, under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled, "An act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain," approved February 25, 1920, has granted and does hereby grant a permit to the exclusive right for years from date hereof to prospect for oil or gas, but for no other purpose, the following described lands: -, upon the express conditions following: granting 1. To mark each of the corners of the claim within ninety days from date hereof with substantial monuments so that the boundaries can be readily traced on the ground, and post in a conspicuous place, upon the lands covered hereby, a notice that such a permit has been granted, and a description of the lands covered by this permit. 2. Within six months (two years in Alaska) from date hereof to instal upon some portion of the lands a substantial and adequate drilling outfit and to commence actual drilling operations. 3. Within one year (three years in Alaska) from date hereof to drill one or more wells, not less than 6 inches in diameter to a depth of at least 500 feet each, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered. 4. Within two years (four years in Alaska) from date hereof to drill one or more wells to a depth of at least 2,000 feet, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered. 5. Not to drill any well within 200 feet of any of the outer boundaries of the lands covered by this permit unless the adjoining lands have been patented or the title thereto otherwise vested in private owners. 6. To carry on all operations hereunder in accordance with approved methods and practice; to use all reasonable precautions to prevent waste of oil or gas developed in the land, or the entrance of water through wells drilled by permittee to the oil sands or oil-bearing strata to the destruction or injury of the oil deposits, and to carry out, at the expense of the permittee, all reasonable orders of the Secretary of the Interior relative to prevention of waste and preservation of property, and to comply with such regulations as may be issued by the Secretary of the Interior as to methods of operation. 7. To furnish and maintain during the period of this permit a bond with qualified corporate surety, in the sum of $conditioned against the failure of the permittee 24918°-21-2 |