I've tried reading the mineral code, and haven't been able to find answers to these questions.  So if anyone has answers, I'd appreciate some help.

Consider a person with 3 years remaining on a mineral servitude, who signs an oil and gas lease that explicitly restricts the driller to  operating at shallow depths, say 5000' or less.  Assume the driller drills a successful well that produces for many years.  After that 3 years, will the mineral rights to the depths below 5000' prescribe? 

And here's the dumb question of the day....  will the mineral rights to the solid minerals (e.g., sulfur, coal, lignite, etc.) prescribe?  I'm guessing they will, but I cannot find it explicitly in the mineral code, that drilling for oil and gas won't interrupt prescription of solid minerals. 

Thanks, in advance, for any insights.

Views: 164

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

1) Prescription will be interupted as it is one servitude, as long as the requirments for interruption are met and as long as the mineral owner owns all depths of the servitude. The lease is only restricting what the operator may explore for. So If you owned 40 acres of minerals without the surface, and leased everything down to say 5000', but own the whole 40 acres of minerals, an d then a well is drilled and meets the requirments for prescription, your whole servitude would have prescrition interupted.

 

2) It is my understanding that solid minerals can not be seperated from the ownership of the land

 

§5.  Ownership of solid minerals

Ownership of land includes all minerals occurring naturally in a solid state.  Solid minerals are insusceptible of ownership apart from the land until reduced to possession.  

Acts 1974, No. 50, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1975.  

 

 

RSS

Support GoHaynesvilleShale.com

Blog Posts

The Lithium Connection to Shale Drilling

Shale drilling and lithium extraction are seemingly distinct activities, but there is a growing connection between the two as the world moves towards cleaner energy solutions. While shale drilling primarily targets…

Continue

Posted by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher) on November 20, 2024 at 12:40

Not a member? Get our email.

Groups



© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service