Title 53, Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals

Any law enforcement officer or the supervisor of the State Oil and Gas Board or his designated employees may at any time inspect and for probable cause impound oil or any substance as defined in Section 53-3-201 and the vehicle transporting it, pending being furnished with the do…

Any person who violates any of the provisions of Sections 53-3-3 through 53-3-19, inclusive, or any rule, regulation or order made thereunder, shall be subject to the penalties and punishment set forth in Section 53-1-47.

(1) Whenever a drilling unit for oil or gas is formed comprised entirely of lands within the State of Mississippi, with one or more unit boundaries being the center of the main navigable channel of the Mississippi River or any other navigable river constituting the boundary betwe…

Before any person shall commence the drilling of any well in search of oil or gas, the person shall file with the board his application for a permit to drill, accompanied by a certified plat and by a fee of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00), payable to the State Oil and Gas Board. Wh…

Before any person shall commence the drilling of a stratigraphic test or any well below the freshwater level (other than an oil or gas well or injection well), such person shall file with the board his application for a permit to drill, accompanied by a fee of Six Hundred Dollars…

Before any person shall commence the drilling of an injection well, such person shall file with the board his application for a permit to drill, accompanied by a fee of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00), or some lesser sum as may be fixed by order of the board, payable to the State O…

Waste of oil or gas as defined in Section 53-1-3 is hereby made unlawful.

Before any person shall commence operations to rework an abandoned well to an injection well, such person shall file with the board his application to rework, accompanied by a fee of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00), or some lesser sum as may be fixed by order of the board, payable …

Before any person shall commence operations to rework an operating well or injection well to recomplete to another zone, formation or reservoir, such person shall file with the board his application to rework, accompanied by a fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), or some lesser …

(1) Each producer or operator of an oil or gas well shall furnish for each month a “monthly individual well status report,” setting forth complete information and data indicated thereon. Such report for each month shall be prepared and filed according to the instructions on a for…

Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of Section 53-3-35 regarding the filing of reports by failing to file such reports on a timely basis, or by the willful, knowing or fraudulent execution of a report which contains a false entry or statement of fact, or an omissio…

Purchasers of oil or gas production from any oil or gas well shall be liable for the payment of interest on royalty proceeds which have not been disbursed to the royalty owners from and after one hundred twenty (120) days following the date of the first sale of oil or gas. The ra…

(1) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein:(a) “Oil and gas production” means any oil, natural gas, condensate of either, natural gas liquids, other gaseous, liquid or dissolved hydrocarbons, sulfur or helium, or other substa…

(a) The state oil and gas board shall have the power and authority and it shall be its duty, after due notice and a hearing, to regulate the drilling and location of wells in any pool and the production therefrom so as to prevent reasonably avoidable net drainage from each develo…

(1) The state mineral lease commission, the county boards of supervisors, the mayors and boards of aldermen, the mayor and councilmen, the trustees of agricultural high schools and junior colleges, the trustees of any common school districts, consolidated school districts, specia…

(1) (a) When two (2) or more separately owned tracts of land are embraced within an established drilling unit or when there are separately owned interests in all or part of an established drilling unit the persons owning the drilling rights therein and the rights to share in the …

Any person, firm or corporation duly authorized to engage in the exploration or production of oil, gas or other minerals under the provisions of Chapter 7, Title 29, Mississippi Code of 1972, and any person, firm or corporation duly authorized to engage in the transportation of o…

Any person, firm or corporation applying for a permit to construct a facility under Sections 53-3-71 through 53-3-75 shall pay to the state oil and gas supervisor a fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00).

(a) The right to construct, operate and maintain any facility as described in Section 53-3-71 in, on, under or across land which is submerged or wherever the tide may ebb and flow shall be subject to the following:(a) The paramount right of the United States to control commerce a…

(a) Whenever the state oil and gas board has fixed for the purpose of preventing waste, as defined in Section 53-1-3, the total amount of oil or gas which may be produced in any pool in this state at an amount less than that amount which the pool can produce, the board shall allo…

(1) The Mississippi Commission on Natural Resources shall be the geological, economic and topographical survey board and shall exercise the duties and responsibilities of the geological, economic and topographical survey board through the bureau of geology and energy resources of…

The regular and special reports of the survey, with proper illustrations and maps shall be printed as the board may direct, and the reports shall be distributed or sold by the board as interest of the state and of science may demand, and all money obtained by the sale of the repo…

For the purpose of making the survey hereinbefore provided for, it shall be lawful for the persons employed by the survey in making the same to enter upon all lands within the boundaries of this state, but this section shall not be construed as authorizing unnecessary interferenc…

The board of the Mississippi Geological Survey, in the conduct of its work may confer with, and when deemed advisable, may act in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey or other federal agencies in making and publishing the results of topographic, geologic and hydro…

The boards of supervisors of the various counties of this state, the board of aldermen of any municipality, or the governing authorities of any governmental subdivision of the state are hereby authorized in their discretion to expend out of their general funds an amount up to the…

Two or more governmental subdivisions may combine upon the agreement of the governing boards thereof and may contribute funds as agreed to among themselves to such survey as authorized by Section 53-5-17, so as to facilitate a cooperative survey of more than one governmental subd…

Payments to the agency or agencies making the surveys authorized in Section 53-5-17 may be paid during the performance of the survey. However, the total of such payments shall not exceed ninety per cent (90%) of the estimated total cost until after the survey or surveys are final…

The Mississippi Geological, Economic and Topographical Survey may set up a system of priorities for the performance of any of the work authorized in this chapter.

(a) The object of the survey shall be:(a) An examination of the mineral natural resources of the State, viz: the metalliferous deposits, petroleum, natural gas, as well as building stones, clays, coals, cements, waters, and all other mineral substances of value.(b) The investigat…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Mississippi Surface Mining and Reclamation Act.”

(1) The commission may adopt, modify, repeal, after due notice and hearing, and where not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, make exceptions to and grant exemptions and variances from and may enforce rules and regulations pertaining to surface mining and reclamation op…

Upon the passage of any federal surface mining legislation, the commission shall take steps necessary to establish the exclusive jurisdiction of the commission over the regulation of surface mining and reclamation operations in this state.

(a) The commission shall have the following powers and duties regarding surface mining:(a) To develop a statewide, comprehensive policy for the regulation of surface mining and reclamation consistent with this chapter;(b) To hold public and formal hearings, to issue notices of he…

(1) Unless exempted under Section 53-7-7, no operator shall engage in surface mining without having first obtained coverage under a general permit or having obtained from the Permit Board a permit for each operation. The permit or coverage under a general permit shall authorize t…

(1) The Permit Board may issue general permits consistent with regulations adopted by the commission to cover those surface mining operations deemed appropriate by the Permit Board. Conditions in any general permit shall provide that no operation shall be conducted on lands desig…

(1) Each application for a surface mining permit and for coverage under a general permit shall be accompanied by an application fee in accordance with a published fee schedule adopted by the commission. The application fee shall not be less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) plus…

(1) Before commencing any operation for which a permit is required, each applicant for a permit shall submit to the Permit Board an application, a proposed initial reclamation plan and a performance bond in an amount proposed to be sufficient by the applicant to reclaim the permi…

(1) The department shall file a copy of each permit application for public inspection with the chancery clerk of the county where any portion of the operation is proposed to occur after deleting the confidential information according to Section 53-7-75. (2) The department shall s…

(1) The Legislature of the State of Mississippi finds and declares that:(a) Mississippi is endowed with abundant varied natural resources which serve as a source of recreation and economic benefit to our people;(b) The extraction of materials by surface mining is a significant ec…

(1) A reclamation plan shall be developed in a manner consistent with local, physical, environmental and climatological conditions and current mining and reclamation technology. A proposed initial reclamation plan submitted as part of a permit application shall include the follow…

(1) Any permit issued under this chapter shall require operations to comply with all applicable reclamation standards of this chapter. Reclamation standards shall apply to all operations, exploration activities and reclamation operations covered by this chapter and shall require …

(1) Before a permit is issued by the Permit Board, the applicant shall file with the department in the manner and form required by the commission a bond for performance payable to the commission and conditioned on full and satisfactory performance of the requirements of this chap…

(1) The department shall conduct an initial review of a completed permit application within thirty (30) days following receipt of the completed application. The department shall make a recommendation to the Permit Board on the permit application no later than the next regularly s…

(1) The Permit Board, based upon the provisions of this chapter, may issue, reissue, deny, modify, revoke, cancel, rescind, suspend or transfer a permit for a surface mining operation. (2) The Permit Board shall issue a permit if the Permit Board determines that the applicant and…

(1) Applications for the modification, transfer or reissuance of any surface mining permit issued under this chapter may be filed with the department. The Permit Board may modify any surface mining permit to increase or decrease the permit area and shall require an increase in th…

Any interested party may seek a review or an appeal of any action or decision of the Permit Board under Sections 53-7-41 and 53-7-43 as provided in Section 49-17-29.