Title 77, Title 77

(1) The board may in its discretion issue permits upon such terms and conditions it determines to the department of transportation, the board of county commissioners of any county of the state, or to the governing body of a city or town and of any other political subdivision of t…

The department shall withhold from public inspection any information obtained from a lessee under this part if the information relates to proprietary geological information. The withholding is effective for as long as the department considers necessary, but in no event may be les…

The board, by agreement with the permittee or lessee, may, in its discretion and upon such terms as it considers best, amend or modify the terms and conditions within the limitations of this part or extend the term of any lease or prospecting permit issued under this part, subjec…

In response to an application or on its own initiative, the board may lease in a manner that it considers in the best interests of the state any state lands to which the title is vested in the state and in which the coal or coal rights are not reserved by the United States for ex…

The authority to lease extends to state lands no matter how acquired and extends to state lands which have been sold but in which the coal rights are reserved by the state, whether the lands are under certificate of purchase or patents have been issued.

(1) The board may adopt rules and perform all acts not inconsistent with The Enabling Act, the constitution, and the statutes of this state that it considers necessary and proper relating to the leasing of state land for coal mining purposes. (2) The board is encouraged to lease …

Whenever the leased lands are under certificate of purchase or patents have been issued and in all cases where the lands are under lease for grazing, agriculture, or similar purposes, care shall be taken in issuing the coal mining lease to protect the rights of the purchaser or l…

(1) The board may not issue leases to any citizen of another country or any person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity controlled by interests foreign to the United States unless that country provides for similar or like privileges to citizens of the Uni…

(1) Every coal lease shall be conditioned upon compliance with Title 82, chapter 4, parts 1 and 2. (2) These coal leases are subject to the condition that the coal must be mined, handled, and marketed in a manner that will prevent as far as possible all waste of coal and are also…

(1) When a coal mining lease is applied for on land where mining operations have been carried on by a former lessee and there are surface or underground improvements on the land used at the former operations, disposition must be made of the improvements satisfactory to the board …

The department may withhold from public inspection any information obtained from a coal mining lessee or permittee under this part if the information relates to the geology of the mining lease or permit. The withholding is effective for as long as the department considers it nece…

The board shall prescribe the form of the lease.

(1) (a) Prior to issuing a coal mining lease, the board shall evaluate the coal and land proposed to be leased for the purpose of determining the fair market value of any coal reserves located on the land, giving opportunity for and consideration to public comments on the evaluat…

The board may also demand a surety company bond in a form and in an amount as it may determine, conditioned for the payment of all royalties due the state and for the carrying on of the mining operations according to the terms of the lease. However, a lessee may, in lieu of furni…

(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b), coal mining leases must be issued for a primary term of 10 years and for as long thereafter as coal is produced from lands in commercial quantities. (b) If a lease under this part or a corresponding permit issued pursuant to Title …

(1) The compensation of the state under all coal mining leases must be upon a rental and royalty basis and must be fixed and determined by the board. (2) The rental and royalty terms of each lease must be subject to readjustment to reflect fair market value at the end of its prim…

(1) On or before the last day of each month every holder of a producing coal mining lease shall make a report to the department on a form the department prescribes showing: (a) the number of tons mined during the preceding calendar month; (b) the price obtained for the number of …

All fees, rentals, royalties, and bonuses collected under state coal leases shall be paid to the department and credited as follows: (1) All fees shall be credited to the state general fund. (2) All rentals and bonuses shall be credited to the income fund of the grant to which th…

(1) The obligation arising under a coal lease to pay coal royalties to the department, to deliver coal to a purchaser to the credit of the department, or to pay a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the coal to the department is of the essence in the lease contract. (2) If the…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the department may, within 5 years of the filing of a report pursuant to 77-3-317, commence an audit of a lessee's or former lessee's operation to determine whether the report is complete and accurate and whether all royalties owed have b…

(1) The board is hereby authorized and empowered to lease in such manner as it may determine, not inconsistent with The Enabling Act and the constitution, any state lands to which the title has vested in the state and in which the oil and gas rights are not reserved by the United…

(1) 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 f…

The board is hereby granted full power and authority to order and hold hearings on any matter or question involving oil and gas leases under such rules as it may adopt.

An oil or gas lease issued on state lands may not embrace more than 640 acres, except that any section surveyed by the United States which contains more than 640 acres may be included under one lease.

(1) The lands shall be leased in as compact bodies as the form and areas of the tracts held by the state and offered for lease will permit. (2) No lease may embrace noncontiguous subdivisions of lands unless the subdivisions are within an area comprising not more than 1 square mi…

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…