§ 398e. — Applications for permits to prospect for oil and gas filed under other statutes; disposition.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC398e]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER 12--LEASE, SALE, OR SURRENDER OF ALLOTTED OR UNALLOTTED LANDS
Sec. 398e. Applications for permits to prospect for oil and gas
filed under other statutes; disposition
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
of the applicant for lease in accordance with rules and regulations to
be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and the lands leased
shall be conformed to and taken in accordance with the legal
subdivisions of such surveys; deposit made to cover expense of surveys
shall be deemed appropriated for that purpose, and any excess deposits
may be repaid to the person or persons making such deposit or their
legal representatives. Such leases shall be for a term of twenty years
upon a royalty of 5 per centum in amount or value of the production and
the annual payment in advance of a rental of $1 per acre, the rental
paid for any one year to be credited against the royalties as they may
accrue for that year, with the preferential right in the lessee to renew
the same for successive periods of ten years upon such reasonable terms
and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.
The applicant shall also be entitled to a preference right to a lease
for the remainder of the land in his application at a royalty of not
less than 12\1/2\ per centum in amount or value of the production, the
royalty to be determined by competitive bidding or fixed by such other
methods as the Secretary of the Interior may by regulations prescribe:
Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior shall have the
right to reject any or all bids.
(Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 299, Sec. 5, 44 Stat. 1347.)
References in Text
Act of February 25, 1920, referred to in text, probably means act
Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, 41 Stat. 437, as amended, known as the Mineral
Leasing Act, which is classified generally to chapter 3A (Sec. 181 et
seq.) of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining. For complete classification
of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 181
of Title 30 and Tables.
