Title 9

(a) When any mineral or other related interests deriving from two or more separately owned tracts of land are embraced within an established or a proposed drilling or production unit, or when there are separately owned interests in all or a part of an established or proposed dril…

(a) Whenever the board limits the total amount of oil or gas which may be produced in this state, the limit so fixed shall not be less than the aggregate of the allowables fixed for each separate pool in this state for the prevention of waste in accordance with the foregoing defi…

Any interested person aggrieved by any rule, regulation or order made or promulgated by the board under this article and who may be dissatisfied therewith shall, within 30 days from the date said order, rule or regulation was promulgated, have the right, regardless of the amount …

(a) No temporary restraining order or injunction of any kind shall be granted against the board or the members thereof or against the Attorney General or any district attorney or against any agent, employee or representative of the board restraining the board or any of its member…

Whenever it shall appear that any person is violating or threatening to violate any provision of this article or any rule, regulation or order made under this article and unless the board without litigation can effectively prevent further violation or threat of violation, then th…

In any civil action where the board, in the name of the state, seeks enforcement of this article or of any rule, regulation or order issued under this article, as provided in Section 9-17-17 or in any civil action where an interested party seeks to test the validity of or enjoin …

(a) Nothing contained or authorized in this article and no civil action by or against the board and no penalties imposed or claimed against any person for violating any provision of this article or any rule, regulation or order issued under this article and no forfeiture shall im…

The prevention of waste of oil and gas and the protection of correlative rights are declared to be in the public interest. The purpose of this article is to prevent such waste and to protect correlative rights. (Acts 1945, No. 1, p. 1, §1; Acts 1969, No. 1033, p. 1916, §1.)

(a) The sale, purchase or acquisition or the transportation, refining, processing or handling in any other way of illegal oil, illegal gas or illegal product is hereby prohibited. (b) Unless and until the board provides for certificates of clearance or tenders or some other metho…

Apart from and in addition to any other remedy or procedure which may be available to the board or any penalty which may be sought against or imposed upon any person with respect to violations relating to illegal oil, illegal gas or illegal product, all illegal oil, illegal gas a…

In order to protect further the natural gas fields and oil fields in this state, it is hereby declared to be unlawful for any owner to allow a well to go wild or to get out of control. The owner of any such well shall, after 24 hours written notice by the board given to him or to…

(a) Any person desiring or proposing to drill any well in search of oil or gas or any person proposing to drill a Class II injection well as defined in the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. § 300f et seq., before commencing the drilling of any such well, shall notify the…

(a) For the purpose of defraying the expenses connected with the administration and enforcement of this article, including the expense of the inspections, tests, analyses, and all other expenses connected with the supervision and protection of crude petroleum oil and natural gas …

(a) It shall be the duty of every person producing or in charge of production of crude petroleum or natural gas from any well or wells in the State of Alabama for sale, transport, storage, profit or for use to keep and preserve such records of the amount of all such crude petrole…

In the event that any collection of tax is improperly made in an effort to enforce the provisions of Section 9-17-25 or Section 9-17-35, either as a result of a mistake of law or fact, the amount so paid may be recovered in the same manner as is provided by law for the recovery o…

(a) There is created and established a board, to be known as the State Oil and Gas Board, to be composed of three members to be appointed by the Governor for terms of the following duration: One member for a term of two years; one member for a term of four years; and one member f…

Commencing on February 8, 2018, the State Oil and Gas Board is not subject to review as an enumerated agency under the Alabama Sunset Law. (Act 2018-75, §3.)

All funds collected pursuant to the tax levied on the producer of crude petroleum oil or natural gas produced for sale, transport, storage, profit or for use, from any well or wells in the State of Alabama, as is provided in Section 9-17-25 and Section 9-17-35, shall be deposited…

(a) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this article, or any rule, regulation or order of the board made under this article shall, in the event a penalty for such violation is not otherwise provided for in this article, be subject to a fine not to exc…

(a) As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) CHECK STUB. The financial record attached to a check, included with a check, or mailed separately at or near the time the check is mailed. (2) DIVISION ORDER. A contract between the interest o…

In addition to the definitions contained in Section 9-17-1, which shall apply for the purpose of computing the tax as provided in Section 9-17-35, except to the extent there is a conflict with the definitions contained herein, the following definitions shall apply for the purpose…

(a) The tax levied upon the producers of offshore production, produced from depths greater than 8,000 feet below mean sea level, shall be computed at the rate of one and sixty-six one hundredths percent (1.66%) of the gross proceeds attributable to the offshore production. (b) Th…

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FACILITY or FACILITY. An alternative energy well and associated infrastructure used for developing, producing, or supporting alternative energy resources. (2) ALTERNATIVE ENE…

Two members of the board shall constitute a quorum, but two affirmative votes shall be necessary for the adoption or promulgation of any rule, regulation or order of the board. (Acts 1945, No. 1, p. 1, §6.)

The Attorney General shall be attorney for the board; provided, that in cases of emergency the board may call upon the district attorney of the circuit where the action is to be brought or defended to represent the board until such time as the Attorney General may take charge of …

(a) The board shall have jurisdiction and authority over all persons and property necessary to administer and enforce effectively the provisions of this article and all other articles relating to the conservation of oil and gas. (b) The board shall have the authority and it shall…

(a) The board shall prescribe its rules of order or procedure in hearings or other proceedings before it under this article. (b) No rule, regulation or order, including any change, renewal or extension thereof, shall, in the absence of an emergency, be made by the board under the…

(a) The board or any member thereof is hereby empowered to issue subpoenas for witnesses, to require their attendance and the giving of testimony before it and to require the production of such books, papers and records in any proceeding before the board as may be material upon q…

The State Geologist shall be, ex officio, the State Oil and Gas Supervisor and shall perform all of the duties of and is hereby vested with all the powers imposed upon and vested in the State Oil and Gas Supervisor under and by the terms and provisions of this article. The State …

(a) Whenever by reason of the termination of the full period within which an optional gas and oil lease which is of record may be kept alive by the payments of rentals or by reason of the termination of any of the options in such lease by reason of failure on the part of the less…

(a) The Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources, on behalf of the state, is hereby authorized to lease any lands or interest therein under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the exploration, development, and production of oil, …

The Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources, on behalf of the state, is hereby authorized, upon the written request of the head of any state department, institution or agency, to lease any land or interest therein owned by such department, institution or agency or in w…

The Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources, on behalf of the state, is hereby authorized to lease, upon such terms as he may approve, any lands or any right or any interest therein under any navigable streams or navigable waters, bays, estuaries, lagoons, bayous or la…

Any lease executed under the provisions of this division may authorize the lessee to pool or unitize the lease, the lands or minerals covered thereby or any part thereof with other lands, leases or mineral estates or parts thereof upon such terms as the Commissioner of Conservati…

The Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources is hereby authorized to execute upon such terms as he may approve: (1) Pooling or unitization agreements affecting oil, gas and other minerals or any one or more of them, on, in or under lands within the jurisdiction of the D…

All lands proposed to be leased under the provisions of this division shall be leased only upon the basis of competitive bids. The Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources shall obtain written, sealed competitive bids on every proposed lease of each tract of such land. …

All persons requesting the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources to advertise state lands for oil and gas lease purposes shall be required to pay for the necessary legal advertisements for such sales. (Acts 1963, No. 529, p. 1141, §1.)

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is hereby authorized to provide for a reasonable charge for its oil and gas lease tract charts, such charge to be based upon the cost of printing, handling and mailing by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. (A…

The revenues that shall accrue under the provisions of this division from rentals, royalties and all other sources subject to the cost of administration shall be the property of the department or institution to which said lands belong or in which said department or institution sh…

No such revenues shall be expended from such funds unless and to the extent appropriated by law. (Acts 1956, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 158, p. 224, §8.)

The phrase “enhanced recovery methods” as used herein shall mean the increased recovery from a pool of oil or gas achieved by artificial means or by the application of energy extrinsic to the pool, including repressuring, cycling, pressure maintenance, injection, or any other enh…

In order to promote the conservation of oil and gas resources, prevent waste, avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, allow the drilling of wells at optimum geologic locations, and protect correlative rights, the State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama upon its own motion may, or upo…

The board shall issue an order requiring such unit operation if it finds that: (1) Unit operation of the field or of any pool or pools or of any portion of a pool or combinations thereof within the field is reasonably necessary to prevent waste, to increase the ultimate recovery …

The order shall be fair and reasonable under all the circumstances, shall protect the rights of interested parties and shall include: (1) A description of the area embraced, termed the unit area, and a description of the pool or pools or portions thereof affected and lying within…

An order requiring unit operation shall not become effective unless and until agreements incorporating the provisions of Section 9-17-83 have been signed or in writing ratified or approved by the owners of at least 66 2/3 percent in interest as costs are shared under the terms of…

(a) The board, by entry of new or amending orders, may from time to time add to unit operations portions of pools not theretofore included and may add to unit operations new pools or portions thereof and may extend the unit area as required. Any such order, in providing for alloc…