25 U.S.C. § 398e Applications For Permits to Prospect For Oil and Gas Filed Under Other Statutes; Disposition

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023 Edition
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-19 (published on www.congress.gov on 10/06/2023)

The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to allow any person who prior to May 27, 1924, filed an application for a permit in accordance with the provisions of the Act of February 25, 1920, to prospect for oil and gas upon lands within an Indian reservation or withdrawal created by Executive order who shall show to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that he, or the party with whom he has contracted, has done prior to January 1, 1926, any or all of the following things, to wit, expended money or labor in geologically surveying the lands covered by such application, has built a road for the benefit of such lands, or has drilled or contributed toward the drilling of the geologic structure upon which such lands are located, or who in good faith has either filed a motion for reinstatement or rehearing; or performed any other act which in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior entitles him to equitable relief, to prospect for a period of two years from March 3, 1927, or for such further time as the Secretary of the Interior may deem reasonable or necessary for the full exploration of the land described in his application under the terms and conditions therein set out, and a substantial contribution toward the drilling of the geologic structure thereon by such applicant for a permit thereon may be considered as prospecting under the provisions hereof; and upon establishing to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that valuable deposits of oil and gas have been discovered within the limits of the land embraced in any such application, he shall be entitled to a lease for one-fourth of the land embraced in the application: Provided, That the applicant shall be granted a lease for as much as one hundred and sixty acres of said lands if there be that number of acres within the application. The area to be selected by the applicant shall be in compact form and, if surveyed, to be described by the legal subdivisions of the public land surveyed; if unsurveyed, to be surveyed by the Government at the expense ...