Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-102
§358 Rights Under Prior Leases; Priority of Pending Applications; Exchange of Leases
Title 30 › CHAPTER 7 — LEASE OF MINERAL DEPOSITS WITHIN ACQUIRED LANDS › § 358
Summary
Rights before August 7, 1947 stay under the law that applied when they were obtained. Leases issued before that date may be exchanged for a new one under this chapter before they expire. On August 7, 1947, a qualified applicant who had a pending oil-and-gas lease application for land that, when filed, was not inside a known producing field has priority for that lease without competitive bidding.
Full Legal Text
Title 30, §358
Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Nothing in this chapter shall affect any rights acquired by any lessee of lands subject to this chapter under the law as it existed prior to August 7, 1947, and such rights shall be governed by the law in effect at the time of their acquisition; but any person qualified to hold a lease who, on August 7, 1947, had pending an application for an oil and gas lease for any lands subject to this chapter which on the date the application was filed was not situated within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field, shall have a preference right over others to a lease of such lands without competitive bidding. Any person holding a lease on lands subject hereto, which lease was issued prior to August 7, 1947, shall be entitled to exchange such lease for a new lease issued under the provisions of this chapter, at any time prior to the expiration of such existing lease.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Outer Continental Shelf; Jurisdiction of United States; Validation of Prior LeasesJurisdiction of United States over outer Continental Shelf, grant of leases on submerged lands thereof, and validation of prior leases, see section 1331 et seq. of Title 43, Public Lands.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
30 U.S.C. § 358
Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102