Title 77, Title 77

Any person, association, corporation, or municipality qualified to hold an oil or gas lease on state lands may receive from the board or take through assignment or succession, will, judgment, decree, or otherwise through the operation of law more than one oil and gas lease to sta…

(1) In the case of all leases issued under the provisions in force prior to February 28, 1953, where oil or gas is being produced, the board shall at the expiration thereof or termination for any cause advertise the land held thereunder for re-leasing and lease the same to the hi…

It is unlawful for any officer or employee of any agency of the executive branch of state government who is required to inspect or examine oil or gas wells or otherwise to gather field information in regard to prospecting for oil and gas or the production thereof to lease or to b…

(1) Any officer, employee, or representative of the state who directly or indirectly accepts any money or any other valuable thing, except the officer's, employee's, or representative's regular and lawful compensation, for performing or not performing an official act under the pr…

Any person who shall knowingly make and file in any department, bureau, or office of the state any application, statement, or report in writing required by regulation promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this part containing any false statement of a material fact shall be gu…

(1) Within 15 days of the previous oil and gas lease sale, the department shall publish the date and place of the upcoming sale in a publication of general circulation in Montana and on the department's website. (2) (a) The department shall accept nominations of tracts for an upc…

(1) All state oil and gas leases entered by the board shall be granted for a primary term of not more than 10 years or less than 5 years and as long thereafter as oil or gas in paying quantities is produced, on condition that all drilling, rental, and other obligations are fully …

If oil or gas is not being produced from the leased premises at the expiration of the primary term of the lease but the owner of the lease is then engaged in drilling on the premises for oil or gas, then the lease continues in force so long as such drilling operations are being d…

(1) The annual money rentals to be paid to the state for oil and gas leases must be set by the board but may not be less than $1.50 for each acre of land leased. (2) In addition to the sum of $1.50 per acre, the rental for the first year of the lease must also include any sum in …

(1) In every oil and gas lease granted after March 3, 1955, under this part there must be reserved to the board full power to declare termination of the lease at the end of the fifth year or any subsequent year of the primary term of the lease upon failure of the lessee to either…

If the first well drilled is a dry hole and if a second well is not commenced on the land covered by the lease before the next anniversary of the lease following the completion of the well, the lease may be terminated by the board unless the lessee, on or before such anniversary,…

Oil and gas leases issued under the provisions of this part must all be subject to the conditions that the lessee in conducting explorations and mining or drilling operations shall use all reasonable precautions to prevent waste of oil or gas developed in the land or the entrance…

(1) Oil and gas leases granted by the state shall contain suitable provisions imposing upon all lessees the obligation to drill offset wells wherever and whenever necessary to prevent waste and damage to the property of the state. (2) The board may allow the lessee the following …

(1) The lessee shall be required, upon completing a commercially productive oil or gas well upon the leased premises, to proceed with reasonable diligence to drill such additional wells to the depth of the formation found commercially productive or to such depth as may be necessa…

Owners of state oil and gas leases may enter into agreements with other persons, associations, firms, and corporations for drilling and other operations on the state lands under their leases. No such operating agreements are in any way binding upon the state until filed with the …

(Temporary) Pooling agreements and unit operations. Nothing contained in this or in prior related laws prevents the board from entering into agreements for the pooling of acreage with others for unit operations for the production of oil or gas or both and the apportionment of oil…

(1) On or before the last day of each month every holder of a producing oil or gas lease shall make a report to the department for the preceding calendar month on a form the department prescribes. The report shall show the amount of oil or gas produced and saved during the preced…

In each oil and gas lease granted by the state under this part, there must be reserved to the state as consideration for the lease a royalty in all oil and gas produced and saved from all lands covered by the lease and not used for light, fuel, and operation purposes on the lease…

The royalty on gas, including casinghead gas and all gaseous substances not sold or used off the premises, must be at the rate of $400 per lease each year or the amount of the annual rental provided in the lease, whichever is the greater, payable on or before the annual anniversa…

Such lease shall provide for the rendering of payment of such royalty on all oil and gas produced and saved and sold or used off the premises in the following manner and upon the following terms: (1) the lessee shall pay to the state in cash, for all oil and gas royalty reserved,…

(1) The report under 77-3-431 must be accompanied by payment of the amount due the state as royalty for the month covered by the report unless the state's royalty is being or has been paid directly by the purchaser. However, when the amount of royalty due from a lease is determin…

All fees, rentals, penalties, royalties, and bonuses collected for or under state oil and gas leases shall be paid to the department and credited as follows: (1) All fees and penalties shall be credited to the state general fund. (2) All rentals shall be credited to the income fu…

The owner or owners of any existing state oil and gas lease shall have the right to exchange it for an amended lease containing the same provisions as to the term of said lease as are then provided by law for state oil and gas leases upon filing a written application therefor and…

(1) The assignment of any oil and gas lease issued under this part, either in whole or as to subdivisions of land embracing not less than 40 acres covered thereby, made to an assignee qualified as provided herein is permitted. Such assignment is not, however, binding upon the sta…

The lessee under any oil and gas lease granted by the state may at the termination of any rental year, by giving to the department 30 days' previous notice in writing, surrender and relinquish the lease to the state in whole or as to any legal subdivision of the lands covered the…

(1) All oil and gas leases granted by the state pursuant to the terms of this part shall provide for forfeiture and cancellation thereof upon failure of the lessee to fully discharge the obligations provided therein, after written notice from the state and reasonable time allowed…

In all cases where an oil and gas lease issued after March 3, 1955, is surrendered for cancellation before its expiration, relinquished to the state, or canceled through proceedings on the part of the state, no new lease on the lands under such lease may be issued within 30 days …

(1) Upon the termination for any cause of a lease issued under this part, the former lessee has 6 months after the date of the termination to remove from the premises all machinery, fixtures, improvements, buildings, and equipment belonging to the lessee, except for casing in the…

In every oil and gas lease granted pursuant to the terms hereof there shall be reserved unto the state the right to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the surface of the lands covered thereby, subject always to the rights and privileges granted unto the lessee under such oil an…

(1) A person, partnership, or association may not enter into an agreement that in the aggregate creates overriding royalties or payments out of the production of oil and gas in excess of 5% above the landowner's royalty payable to the state of Montana unless that agreement expres…

The department may withhold from public inspection any information obtained from an oil or gas lessee under this part if the information, including drill logs, seismic data, and lithographic descriptions, relates to the geology of the oil or gas lease. The withholding is effectiv…

(1) The board is hereby authorized and empowered to lease in such manner and upon such terms as it may determine, not inconsistent with The Enabling Act and the constitution, state lands to which the title has vested in the state, subject to existing rights, for use for the under…

The board shall have the power and authority to prescribe such rules and to do and perform all acts and things not inconsistent with The Enabling Act, the constitution, and the statutes of this state as it may deem necessary and proper relating to the leasing of state lands for t…

The board may order and hold hearings on any matter or question involving leases issued under 77-3-501 under such rules as it adopts.

Any lessee, upon application, is entitled to a hearing on any notice or demand of the department before any lease is granted, forfeited, or canceled by the board.

A lessee under 77-3-501 shall furnish bond to the state in a form prescribed by the board and in an amount adequate to indemnify the state against loss, damage, or detriment by reason of failure of the lessee to fully discharge the obligations contained in any lease. No bond in e…

In every lease granted pursuant to the terms hereof there shall be reserved unto the state the right to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the lands covered thereby, subject always to the rights and privileges granted unto the lessee under a lease provided for by this part.

(1) Leases issued under the provisions of this part shall all be subject to the conditions that the lessee in conducting the underground storage of natural gas shall use all reasonable precautions to prevent waste of oil or gas developed in the land or the entrance of water throu…

All leases issued under 77-3-501 may be granted for a period not exceeding 20 years, and the lessee has a preferential right to renew the lease for an additional period not exceeding 20 years, subject to any terms and conditions the board imposes.

All rentals collected for or under leases issued under 77-3-501 shall be paid to the department and credited in the same manner as rentals from oil and gas leases.

All leases granted under 77-3-501 shall provide for their forfeiture and cancellation upon failure of the lessee to fully discharge the obligations provided therein, after written notice from the department and reasonable time allowed to the lessee for performance of any undertak…

The lessee may at the termination of any rental year, by giving to the department 30 days' previous notice in writing, surrender and relinquish such lease to the state and be thereupon discharged from any obligation not yet accrued.

Upon the termination for any cause of any lease issued under 77-3-501, the lessee has 6 months after the date of the termination within which to remove all machinery, fixtures, improvements, buildings, and equipment belonging to it upon the premises.