It is widely known that the oil and gas sector is one of the important sectors which contribute to the enhancement of a country’s revenue. Because of the diversity in nature of investments in the oil market, the profits are also varied. Every country’s dealing in oil and gas sector operates in a different manner as they have different regulations prescribed for them. If to talk about the legal regulation governing the oil and gas ownership in the USA, it is slightly different from the regulations that are prevalent in Europe. Unlike in many other countries, where the oil and gas sector is owned by the national government, in the USA, it is mostly under the hands of private ownership. The number of private undertakings is higher when it comes to the oil and gas sector in USA. A large number of oil and gas companies in USA are successfully operating in the country. Let us have a look at some of the structural features of the companies involved in oil and gas sector in the USA:
In most of the cases, the oil and gas companies in the USAdo not own the land where they carry out the drilling work. It can be seen that such companies take it on lease, from the owner who is called the lessor. Such settlements often involve the detailed description of the property, the duration of the lease or lease period, and the payments to be given to the lessor. In some instances, the company or the lessee of mineral rights can have reasonable access to the land for the purpose of exploration, development and the transportation of minerals. It all depends on the mode of the contract, if this is a “no-surface access” lease, there will be no such access.
The duration of the lease will be in effect as long as the company pays the annual dues. This is called the primary term period. If there is successful production, the lease will remain in place till the time production will continue. In case of any delay payments, the terms will be revised. There is the provision of delay rentals when a company can make the payments lately without the termination of the contract.
Payments to the lessor are carried out in three forms-bonus, rental, and royalties as per negotiation. Bonus is a kind of payment made at the time of execution of the lease. Rental is the annual one and the royalty is a portion of the total value of any oil or gas production from the lease, to be paid to the mineral owner.
Author bio
Christopher is the scholar behind many of the successful researches related to the oil and gas sector in USA. His comments are mostly valued in the field of oil and gas investments in the USA as he possesses an in depth knowledge of the oil and gas market.
