30 U.S.C. § 104 — Agreements with applicants for patents as to disposition of oil or gas, or proceeds thereof, pending determination of title; Navy Petroleum Fund

submitted 115 years ago by ch. 201 to r/title-30-MINERAL-LANDS-AND-MINING · 231 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This section lets the Secretary of the Interior make deals with oil or gas land patent applicants about how to handle production, or its proceeds, while the government still hasn't decided on their patent claim. Money the government earns this way from Naval Petroleum Reserve lands goes into a Navy Petroleum Fund.

This section is not split into lettered parts, but it covers two connected rules. First rule: if someone applied for a patent on oil or gas land that was part of a withdrawal order — where oil or gas had already been found, or was being produced before March 2, 1911, or where drilling was actively underway on October 3, 1910, and oil or gas was later found — and the Secretary of the Interior hasn't yet made a final decision on that patent application, the Secretary can make agreements, on terms the Secretary sets, with the applicants who hold the land. These agreements cover what happens to the oil or gas produced, or its proceeds, while the Secretary still hasn't finally decided who owns the land — or whatever other arrangement the law allows. Second rule: any money the United States earns under sections 103 and 104 of this title from land within the Naval Petroleum Reserves must be set aside for Navy needs. It goes into the Treasury, credited to a fund called the Navy Petroleum Fund, and Congress directs, by appropriation or otherwise, how that fund is used for the Navy.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

Where applications for patents have been or may be offered for any oil or gas land included in an order of withdrawal upon which oil or gas had been discovered, or was being produced prior to March 2, 1911, or upon which drilling operations were in actual progress on October 3, 1910, and oil or gas is thereafter discovered thereon, and where there has been no final determination by the Secretary of the Interior upon such applications for patent, said Secretary, in his discretion, may enter into agreements, under such conditions as he may prescribe with such applicants for patents in possession of such land or any portions thereof, relative to the disposition of the oil or gas produced therefrom or the proceeds thereof, pending final determination of the title thereto by the Secretary of the Interior, or such other disposition of the same as may be authorized by law. Any money which may accrue to the United States under the provisions of sections 103 and 104 of this title from lands within the Naval Petroleum Reserves shall be set aside for the needs of the Navy and deposited in the Treasury to the credit of a fund to be known as the Navy Petroleum Fund, which fund shall be applied to the needs of the Navy as Congress may from time to time direct, by appropriation or otherwise.

Source credit: (Mar. 2, 1911, ch. 201, § 2, as added Aug. 25, 1914, ch. 287, 38 Stat. 708.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1911Enacted · Act of Mar. 2, 1911, ch. 201 · 38 Stat. 708

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 201 on 1911-03-02.

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