Bill No.:         SF0083                                               Drafter: MDO

LSO No.:       14LSO-0375                                     Effective Date: Immediate

Enrolled Act No.:    SEA0053

Chapter No.:                        CH0116

Prime Sponsor:       Senator Anderson, J.D. (SD02)

Catch Title:              Oil and gas operations-bonding requirement.

Subject:                     Increasing bonding amount for oil and gas operator drilling on split estate.

Summary/Major Elements:

· Wyoming law provides that an oil and gas operator who wants to drill a well on a “split estate” (a parcel of land where the surface estate and the mineral estate are not owned exclusively by the same party) shall attempt good faith negotiations to obtain an executed surface use agreement providing for compensation to the surface owner for damages to the land and improvements from oil and gas operations.

· If the surface owner and the oil and gas operator cannot reach an agreement after good faith negotiations, the operator may post a per well site bond or a bond covering all of the oil and gas operations by the operator on the surface owner’s land.

· This act increases the minimum amount for a per well site bond from $2,000.00 to $10,000.00.

· The amount for a blanket bond is increased to not less than $10,000.00 per well site on the surface owner’s land.