Title 25, IndiansRelease 119-102
§396g Subsurface Storage of Oil or Gas
Title 25 › CHAPTER 12 — LEASE, SALE, OR SURRENDER OF ALLOTTED OR UNALLOTTED LANDS › § 396g
Summary
The Secretary of the Interior may allow oil or gas to be stored underground on leasable Indian lands, no matter where it was first produced. The Secretary can change or extend existing tribal or allotted leases and make rules to allow and manage storage. Leases may charge a storage fee, rent, or a different royalty when stored oil or gas is later produced, and they must stay in effect during storage and while any newly produced oil or gas is produced in paying amounts.
Full Legal Text
Title 25, §396g
Indians, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The Secretary of the Interior, to avoid waste or to promote the conservation of natural resources or the welfare of the Indians, is authorized in his discretion to approve leases of lands that are subject to lease under section 396 or 396a of this title, for the subsurface storage of oil and gas, irrespective of the lands from which initially produced, and the Secretary is authorized, in order to provide for the subsurface storage of oil or gas, to approve modifications, amendments, or extensions of the oil and gas or other mining lease(s), if any, in effect as to restricted Indian lands, tribal or allotted, and may promulgate rules and regulations consistent with such leases, modifications, amendments, and extensions, relating to the storage of oil or gas thereunder. Any such leases may provide for the payment of a storage fee or rental on such stored oil or gas or, in lieu of such fee or rental, for a royalty other than that prescribed in the lease when such stored oil or gas is produced in conjunction with oil or gas not previously produced. It may be provided that any oil and gas lease under which storage of oil or gas is so authorized shall be continued in effect at least for the period of such storage use and so long thereafter as oil or gas not previously produced is produced in paying quantities.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Repeal of Inconsistent ActsFor repeal of inconsistent acts, see section 7 of act May 11, 1938, set out as a note under section 396a of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
25 U.S.C. § 396g
Title 25, Indians
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102