The bill H. R. 5530. Report of Secretary of Interior on H. R. 5530. Hon. Paul R. Greever, a Representative in Congress from the State 7 Mr. Herman Stabler, Chief, Conservation Branch, United States 15 APRIL 16, 1935 Statement of— Mr. Herman Stabler, Chief, Conservation Branch, United States Mr. Frederick L. Kirgis, Assistant Solicitor, Department of Interior_ Statement of— APRIL 17, 1935 Mr. Rufus G. Poole, Assistant Solicitor, Department of Interior.......... Mr. Robert L. Patterson, of California-resumed_ _ . 101 120 APRIL 19, 1935 Statement of— Mr. Robert P. Jackson, Great Falls, Mont., representing the Oil 153 Mr. Clay Tallman, representing Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Associa- 173 APRIL 20, 1935 Statement of- Mr. Clay Tallman, representing Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, 173 Mr. A. T. Danaher, of Casper, Wyo---- 193 APRIL 22, 1935 Statement of- Mr. J. W. Steele, former supervisor, Conservation Branch, Geological Mr. Hal W. Stewart, Findlay, Ohio, representing the Oil Ohio Co--- 203 APRIL 23, 1935 Statement of— Mr. Edward M. Freeman, representing Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Mr. William R. Eaton, Denver, Colo-- Mr. Rufus G. Poole, Assistant Solicitor, Department of Interior.. 225 234 245 248 III CONTENTS Report of Secretary of Interior on H. R. 5530_ Hon. Paul R. Greever, Representative in Congress from the State of Wyoming, and author of the bill on which the hearings are based__ Mr. Herman Stabler, Chief Conservation Branch, United States Mr. Leroy H. Hines, assistant legal adviser, Office of the Solicitor, Mr. Frederick L. Kirgis, Assistant Solicitor, Department of the Interior Mr. Rufus G. Poole, Assistant Solicitor, Department of the Interior Mr. Herman Stabler, Chief Conservation Branch, Geological Survey Mr. Robert L. Patterson of California_ Mr. Robert P. Jackson, Great Falls, Mont., representing The Oil Conservation Board of the State of Montana, and other organiza- Page Mr. Hal W. Steward, Findlay, Ohio, representing the Ohio Oil Co.- Mr. Edward Freeman, representing Mid-Continent Oil & Gas 225 Mr. William R. Eaton, Denver, Colo--- 234 Mr. Rufus G. Poole, Assistant Solicitor, Department of the Interior 245 AMENDING THE OIL AND GAS LEASING ACT OF 1920 APRIL 15, 1935 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10:30 a. m., Hon. René L. DeRouen (chairman) presiding. We will pro The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. ceed to the consideration of H. R. 5530, a bill by Mr. Greever, "To amend an act entitled 'An act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain', approved February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437; U. S. C., title 30, secs. 185, 221, 223, and 226), as amended," which is as follows: [H. R. 5530, 74th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend an Act entitled "An Act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain", approved February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437; U. S. C., title 30, secs. 185, 221, 223, and 226), as amended. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections 13, 14, 17, and 28 of the Act entitled "An Act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain", approved February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437; U. S. C., title 30, secs. 185, 221, 223, and 226), as amended, are amended to read as follows: "SEC. 13. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, until and including July 1, 1935, but not thereafter, under such necessary and proper rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to grant to any applicant qualified under this Act a prospecting permit, which shall give the exclusive right, for a period not exceeding two years, to prospect for oil or gas upon not to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of land wherein such deposits belong to the United States and are not within any known geological structure of a producing oil or gas field upon condition that the permittee shall begin drilling operations within six months from the date of the permit, and shall, within one year from and after the date of permit, drill one or more wells for oil or gas to a depth of not less than five hundred feet each, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered, and shall, within two years from date of the permit, drill for oil or gas to an aggregate depth of not less than two thousand feet unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered. The Secretary of the Interior may, if he shall find that the permittee has been unable, with the exercise of diligence, to test the land in the time granted by the permit, extend any such permit for such time, not exceeding two years, and upon such conditions as he shall prescribe: Provided, That no extension of any permit shall be granted under the authority of this Act or of any other Act after July 1, 1935. Whether the lands sought in any such application and permit are surveyed or unsurveyed the applicant shall, prior to filing his application for permit, locate such lands in a reasonably compact form and according to the legal subdivisions of the public-land surveys if the land be surveyed, and in an approximately square or rectangular tract if the land be an unsurveyed tract, the length of which shall not exceed two and one-half times its width, and if he shall cause to be erected upon the land for which a permit is sought a monument not less than four feet high, at some conspicuous place thereon, and shall post a notice in writing on or near said monument, stating that an application for permit will be made within thirty days after date of posting said notice, the name of the applicant, the date of the notice, and such a general |