30 Usc 223

30 USC 223: Leases; amount and survey of land; term of lease; royalties and annual rental
Text contains those laws in effect on March 7, 2023
From Title 30-MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 3A-LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS
SUBCHAPTER IV-OIL AND GAS
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§223. Leases; amount and survey of land; term of lease; royalties and annual
rental
Upon establishing to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that valuable deposits of oil or gas have been
discovered within the limits of the land embraced in any permit, the permittee shall be entitled to a lease for one-fourth
of the land embraced in the prospecting permit: Provided, That the permittee shall be granted a lease for as much as
one hundred and sixty acres of said lands, if there be that number of acres within the permit. The area to be selected
by the permittee, shall be in reasonably compact form and, if surveyed, to be described by the legal subdivisions of the
public-land surveys; if unsurveyed, to be surveyed by the Government at the expense of the applicant for lease in
accordance with rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and the lands leased shall be
conformed to and taken in accordance with the legal subdivisions of such surveys; deposits made to cover expense of
surveys shall be deemed appropriated for that purpose, and any excess deposits may be repaid to the person or
persons making such deposit or their legal representatives. Such leases shall be for a term of twenty years upon a
royalty of 5 per centum in amount or value of the production and the annual payment in advance of a rental of $1 per
acre, the rental paid for any one year to be credited against the royalties as they accrue for that year, and shall
continue in force otherwise as prescribed in section 226 of this title for leases issued prior to August 21, 1935. The
permittee shall also be entitled to a preference right to a lease for the remainder of the land in his prospecting permit at
a royalty of not less than 12½ per centum in amount or value of the production nor more than the royalty rate
prescribed by regulation in force on January 1, 1935, for secondary leases issued under this section, and under such
other conditions as are fixed for oil or gas leases issued under section 226 of this title the royalty to be determined by
competitive bidding or fixed by such other method as the Secretary may by regulations prescribe: Provided further,
That the Secretary shall have the right to reject any or all bids.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, §14, 41 Stat. 442 ; Aug. 21, 1935, ch. 599, §1, 49 Stat. 676 .)
Editorial Notes

Amendments
1935-Act Aug. 21, 1935, inserted "reasonably" before "compact form" and substituted "and shall
continue in force otherwise as prescribed in section 226 of this title for leases issued prior to August 21,
1935" and "oil or gas leases issued under section 226 of this title" for "with the right of renewal as
prescribed in section 226 of this title" and "oil or gas leases in this chapter", respectively.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Limitation of Royalty on Discoveries During War Period
Act Dec. 24, 1942, ch. 812, 56 Stat. 1080 , limiting royalty obligation of oil or gas lessee who drills well
resulting in discovery of new deposit on public domain during the national emergency was repealed by
Joint Res. July 25, 1947, ch. 327, §1, 61 Stat. 449 .

Outer Continental Shelf; Leases
Grant by Secretary of the Interior of oil, gas, and other mineral leases on submerged lands of outer
Continental Shelf, see section 1331 et seq. of Title 43, Public Lands.