Pag

294

121

206

,00L AND GAS LEASES-Continued
EXTENSIONS-Continued

to leases which had been granted 5-year extensions prior to the
act as to the remainder of their extended term, including a 2-year
extension resulting from segregation of the lease by partial as-
signment under section 30(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act, as

amended.--
FIRST QUALIFIED APPLICANT
1. A protest by a junior offeror in a drawing of simultaneously filed oil

and gas lease offers which charges disqualification of senior
offeror because the senior offeror is married to another offeror so
that neither was actually the sole party in interest in the separate
offers filed is properly dismissed in the absence of any proof that
either of the two offerors in question was not acting in his own
behalf and that under the law of the State in which the land ap-
plied for lies a married person cannot hold or acquire property

for his sole benefit without the other spouse's consent-----
2. Although a junior offeror may have been the first qualified applicant

for an oil and gas lease, if a lease was mistakenly issued to the
senior offeror and it is assigned to a bona fide purchaser and the
assignment is filed before the land office records show any action
taken against the lease, the interests of the bona fide purchaser
will be protected in accordance with the 1959 and 1960 amend-
ments of the Mineral Leasing Act and the junior offeror's offer

must be rejected ----
3. Where an oil and gas lease is issued which erroneously omits a part

of the land applied for which is available for leasing, and the
land office simultaneously issues a decision which indicates that
the omitted land is included in the lease, the omission will not
be construed as a rejection of the offer as to the omitted land from
which the offeror must appeal in order to preserve the priority
of his offer, but the lease may be amended to include the omitted
land notwithstanding the filing of a conflicting offer for the same
land subsequent to the issuance of the lease but prior to the dis-

covery of the omission --
KNOWN GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE
1. A determination that land is within the undefined known geologic

structure of a producing oil or gas field is, in effect, a withdrawal
of that land from noncompetitive leasing, and where that deter-
mination is reflected by the records of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, the land is unavailable for noncompetitive leasing and
must be excluded in determining whether a lease offer complies

with the requirements of 43 CFR 192.42(d).
2. The phrase "known geologic structure of a producing oil and gas

field" has been so long understood to include oil and gas fields
which once produced and are still capable of production, although
not currently producing, that the phrase as used in Rev. Stat. 2276
(a) (2) will be considered to have the same meaning, despite the
fact that the word "producing" is used in the next paragraph of
the statute to mean actual production.---

243

92

893 Pago

92

92

393

OIL AND GAS LEASES-Continued

- : " 7.1
LANDS SUBJECT TO
1. A determination that land is within the undefined known geologic

structure of a producing oil or gas field is, in effect, a withdrawal
of that land from noncompetitive leasing, and where that deter-
mination is reflected by the records of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, the land is unavailable for noncompetitive leasing and
must be excluded in determining whether a lease offer complies

with the requirements of 43 CFR 192.42(d)-
2. “Available for leasing," as used in 43 CFR 192.42(d) and decisions

interpreting that regulation, means lands which are available for

noncompetitive leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act_
PRODUCTION
1. Land in any lease of a unit agreement which is in a participating area

is to be considered as land in a producing or producible status so
that all lands subject to that lease, whether in the unit or par-
ticipating area, are not eligible for selection by a State as school

indemnity lands-
RENTALS
1. An oil and gas lease on land within the known geologic structure of a

producing gas field which attains a minimum royalty status be-
cause of inclusion in the participating area of a producing gas
unit but on which there is no producing or producible well and
which is subsequently extended as a consequence of the termina-
tion of the unit reverts to a rental status and is subject to the

automatic termination provision of the act of July 29, 1954.----2. The annual rental due for the sixth and succeeding years on noncom

petitive oil and gas leases in Alaska issued prior to July 3, 1958,
and extended thereafter is at the rate of 50 cents per acre per

annum
3. Section 10 of the act of July 3, 1958, amending the Alaska Oil Proviso

of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 to require rentals for noncom-
petitive oil and gas leases in Alaska to be the same as similar
leases for lands elsewhere in the United States, is not applicable
to leases which had been granted 5-year extensions prior to the
act as to the remainder of their extended term, including a 2-
year extension resulting from segregation of the lease by partial
assignment under section 30(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act, as

amended -----
4. If there are applicable funds available, refund may be made of oil and

gas lease rentals paid in excess of that required under the lease

and applicable statutes and regulations.----
5. An oil and gas lease which converts to a minimum royalty basis dur-

ing its primary term because of the discovery on it of oil and gas
in paying quantities remains in a minimum royalty status even
though production ceases and the part of it which had been put
in a known geologic structure is reclassified as not within a known
geologic structure, but it reverts back to a rental basis if the lease

is extended for a five-year period.---
6. Where an office of the General Accounting Office, after an audit, re-

quests the local land office to demand minimum royalty payments

233

284

294

294

361 Pági

OIL AND GAS LEASES-Continued
RENTALS-Continued

from a lessee for seven years of an extended oil and gas lease :
term and, upon appeal, the Comptroller General decides that only
annual rentals paid by the lessee were due, the Department will
not require the lessee to make any additional payments for the
extended term.-

361 ROYALTIES 1. An oil and gas lease on land within the known geologic structure of

a producing gas field which attains a minimum royalty status be-
cause of inclusion in the participating area of a producing gas unit
but on which there is no producing or producible well and which
is subsequently extended as a consequence of the termination of
the unit reverts to a rental status and is subject to the automatic
termination provision of the act of July 29, 1954.---

233 2. An oil and gas lease which converts to a minimum royalty basis dur

ing its primary term because of the discovery on it of oil and gas
in paying quantities remains in a minimum royalty status even
though production ceases and the part of it which had been put in
a known geologic structure is reclassified as not within a known
geologic structure, but it reverts back to a rental basis if the lease
is extended for a five-year period.--

361 3. Where an office of the General Accounting Office, after an audit, re

quests the local land office to demand minimum royalty payments
from a lessee for seven years of an extended oil and gas lease
term and, upon appeal, the Comptroller General decides that only
annual rentals paid by the lessee were due, the Department will
not require the lessee to make any additional payments for the
extended term.-

361 SIX-MILE SQUARE RULE 1. An oil and gas lease offer which describes land within an area over

six miles in width and within an area covering five whole sections
and parts of two end sections in width does not comply with the
regulation requiring that land sought for leasing must be within
an area six miles square or within an area not exceeding six sur-
veyed sections in length or width, and a lease issued in response
to such offer is improperly issued and subject to cancellation if
proper junior offers have been filed for the land.

89 640-ACRE LIMITATION 1. A determination that land is within the undefined known geologic

structure of a producing oil or gas field is, in effect, a withdrawal
of that land from noncompetitive leasing, and where that determi.
nation is reflected by the records of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, the land is unavailable for noncompetitive leasing and
must be excluded in determining whether a lease offer complies
with the requirements of 43 CFR 192.42(d)---

92 2. "Available for leasing," as used in 43 CFR 192.42(d) and decisions

interpreting that regulation, means lands which are available for
noncompetitive leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act-----

92

Par

233

OIL AND GAS LEASES-Continued

TERMINATION
1. An oil and gas lease on land within the known geologic structure of

a producing gas field which attains a minimum royalty status
because of inclusion in the participating area of a producing gas
unit but on which there is no producing or producible well and
which is subsequently extended as a consequence of the termina-
tion of the unit reverts to a rental status and is subject to the

automatic termination provision of the act of July 29, 1954.--.
UNIT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS
1. An oil and gas lease on land within the known geologic structure of

a producing gas field which attains a minimum royalty status
because of inclusion in the participating area of a producing gas
unit but on which there is no producing or producible well and
which is subsequently extended as a consequence of the termina-
tion of the unit reverts to a rental status and is subject to the

automatic termination provision of the act of July 29, 1954.
2. Land in any lease of a unit agreement which is in a participating area

is to be considered as land in a producing or producible status so
that all lands subject to that lease, whether in the unit or partici-
pating area, are not eligible for selection by a State as school
indemnity lands----

233

393

315

POWER

GENERALLY
1. An agreement providing for the delivery by one party of a quantity of

power which cannot, with certainty, be determined in return for
the delivery by the other party of stated amounts of power over
the same period constitutes a power-for-power exchange agree-

ment
2. The advantage at federal hydroelectric projects to be realized from

implementing the “Treaty between Canada and the United States
of America relating to cooperative development of the water re-
sources of the Columbia River basin,” through the execution of
exchange agreements support, as a matter of law, the Bonneville
Power Administrator's determination of "economical operation"
as required by section 14 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939
(53 Stat. 1197, 43 U.S.C. 389) and section 5(b) of the Bonneville

Project Act (50 Stat. 734, 16 U.S.C. 832d (b)).
3. An applicant for an amended transmission line right-of-way under the

act of March 4, 1911, is properly required to file the stipulation re-
quired by the Department's regulations agreeing to permit the
the Department to utilize surplus capacity in the line or to
increase the capacity of the line for the transmission of power by

the Department---
4. The requirement imposed by the Department's regulations on an appli-

cant for a transmission line right-of-way that he agree to permit
the Department to utilize surplus capacity in the line or to
increase the capacity of the line for the transmission of power by
the Department is valid -

815

405

427 Pago

POWER-Continued

GENERALLY-Continued
5. The existence of a contract between a power company and the United

States, acting through the Atomic Energy Commission, whereby
the company agrees to construct a transmission line from its
facilities to facilities of the Commission and the Commission
agrees to provide a right-of-way across land under its jurisdiction
in Los Alamos County, has no bearing upon and is not affected by
conditions imposed by this Department upon a grant of a right-
of-way for a portion of the line across public land under the juris-
diction of this Department in Sandoval County----

427

126

127

PUBLIC LANDS

CLASSIFICATION
1. State selections in satisfaction of a legislative grant of public land

are preferred over conflicting private applications even though the
State application may have been filed subsequent to the private
application if the interval between the two filings is not so great
as to indicate that the State failed to exercise reasonable dili-

gence in exercising its selection right----
2. The filing of a State selection application within six weeks after the

filing of public sale applications for the same land evidences
reasonable diligence by the State in the exercise of its selection
right so that the State application merits consideration with the
public sale applications and allowance unless such allowance
would serve the public interest less effectively than allowance of

the public sale applications.----
DISPOSALS OF
1. The statutory grant of a 6-month preference period for the filling of

State selection applications after every revocation of a with-
drawal of public land within 10 years after August 27, 1958, is
entirely consistent with the existent departmental policy of per-
mitting the public interest in the satisfaction of a legislative grant
of public land to a State to tip the scales in favor of the State
in the Department's consideration of a State selection application
and a conflicting application for the initiation of private rights

in the land ----
LEASES AND PERMITS
1. A tramroad right-of-way permit granted under the Act of January 21,

1899, as amended, 43 USC., sec. 956 (1958), is revocable at the

discretion of the Secretary --
JURISDICTION OVER
1. By general statutory provisions the execution of the laws regulating

the acquisition of rights in the public lands and the general care
of these lands is confided to the land department as a special
tribunal; and the Secretary of the Interior, as the head of the
department, is charged with seeing that this authority is rightly
exercised to the end that valid claims may be recognized, invalid
ones eliminated, and the rights of the public preserved.-----

127

415

415