New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 2 - STATE TRUST LANDS PART 24 CULTURAL PROPERTIES PROTECTION › Part 100 - RELATING TO OIL AND GAS LEASES › Section 19.2.100.56 - CONTINUATION OF LEASE AFTER EXPIRATION OF TERM

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. The payment in advance of rentals for the
				lease year commencing at the expiration of the secondary term in a 10-year
				lease or at the expiration of the five-year term in a five-year lease shall be
				a prerequisite for relying upon current bona fide drilling or reworking
				operations to extend the lease beyond such term. There will be no refund by the
				state land office of any sum received by it as rental under the terms of any
				oil and gas lease issued by the commissioner, whether in the primary or
				secondary term or subsequent to the expiration thereof.
B. The owner of any oil and gas lease
				proposing to conduct drilling or reworking operations and proposing to rely
				upon such operations to extend the lease beyond the fixed term in accordance
				with the provisions thereof shall file in the oil and gas division of the state
				land office, prior to the expiration of the secondary term of a 10-year lease
				or the primary term of a five-year lease, a statement in writing of the
				location of the proposed well, the drilling or reworking of which will be
				relied upon to continue said lease in effect, the depth to which it is proposed
				to drill said well, the reworking operations which, if any, are contemplated
				and the name and address of the drilling contractor or other persons who will
				conduct such operations. The approval by the commissioner of the operations so
				proposed will normally be evidenced by the signature of the commissioner on a
				copy of such statement, but any such proposed operation, about which a
				statement has been filed in accordance with this item, shall be conclusively
				presumed to have been approved by the commissioner prior to the expiration of
				the lease to which it relates, unless the commissioner shall, prior to the
				expiration of said lease, advise the applicant, in writing, of the
				commissioner's disapproval and the reasons therefor.
C. The owner of an oil and gas lease who,
				subsequent to the expiration of the secondary term in a 10-year lease or the
				primary term in a five-year lease, is engaged in drilling or reworking
				operations on lands embraced therein, and who proposes to rely upon such
				operations as extending said lease in accordance with the provisions thereof
				shall file a report of the status of such operations for each 30 day period
				during which they are continued. It shall contain a statement of the depth of
				said well, the status of any reworking operations at the end of said 30 day
				period, a general statement of the drilling or reworking operations that have
				been accomplished during the preceding 30 days, and the fact, if it is a fact,
				that such operations are bona fide in progress and will be continued. Status
				reports filed in the office of the commissioner within 15 days after the close
				of such a 30 day period shall meet the requirements of the lease. If operations
				have ceased during any period covered by a status report, such report shall
				state the date of cessation and the reason therefore, and the date of
				resumption of operations, if any.
D. Each application and stipulation filed
				under Subsection B of 19.2.100.56 NMAC shall be signed by the lease owner, if
				an individual; and if a partnership or corporation, by a responsible official
				thereof. The application shall be verified under oath and the stipulation shall
				be acknowledged. Each statement of operations and status report filed under
				this rule shall be signed by the lease owner, if an individual, or by a
				responsible official, if a partnership or corporation, and shall be verified by
				affidavit of the signer.
E.
				Operations conducted by any person under the terms of an oil and gas lease
				issued by the commissioner, including all operations conducted pursuant to this
				rule shall be subject to inspection at all reasonable times by representatives
				of the state land office.