SECTIONS 3300-3314 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 3300-3314

3300. The unreasonable waste of natural gas by the act, omission,
sufferance, or insistence of the lessor, lessee or operator of any
land containing oil or gas, or both, whether before or after the
removal of gasoline from the gas, is opposed to the public interest
and is unlawful. The blowing, release, or escape of gas into the air
shall be prima facie evidence of unreasonable waste.

3301. Whenever the supervisor finds that it is in the interest of
the protection of oil or gas from unreasonable waste, the lessors,
lessees, operators or other persons owning or controlling royalty or
other interests in the separate properties of the same producing or
prospective oil or gas field, may, with the approval of the
supervisor, enter into agreements for the purpose of bringing about
the cooperative development and operation of all or a part or parts
of the field, or for the purpose of bringing about the development or
operation of all or a part or parts of such field as a unit, or for
the purpose of fixing the time, location, and manner of drilling and
operating of wells for the production of oil or gas, or providing for
the return of gas into the sub-surface of the earth for the purpose
of storage or the repressuring of an oil or gas field. Any such
agreement shall bind the successors and assigns of the parties
thereto in the land affected thereby and shall be enforceable in an
action for specific performance.

3302. Upon complaint being made to the director by any person
operating in any oil field that there is occurring or threatened an
unreasonable waste of gas in any field or fields, and when a petition
is filed with the director requesting that a hearing be held to
consider whether such waste is occurring or threatened, if it appears
to the director that there is probable cause for such complaint, he
shall order the supervisor to hold such a hearing and to fix a time
and place therefor. A hearing may also be ordered by the director on
the application of the supervisor.

3303. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given by
publication in a newspaper printed and published in the county in
which the unreasonable waste of gas is alleged to be taking place or
to be threatened. The notice shall specify the commonly accepted name
or a general description of the field or locality. Publication shall
be daily for five days prior to the time of the hearing. The
supervisor shall also send notice by mail to each lessor, lessee, or
operator, known to him, of any well in the field. Failure to send
such written notice shall not affect the validity of the proceeding.

3304. The place of hearing shall be in the county or in any of the
counties in which the unreasonable waste of gas is alleged to be
taking place or to be threatened.

3305. At the hearing all persons interested are entitled to be
heard and may present testimony either oral or written. All witnesses
shall be sworn, and a transcript of the proceedings shall be kept by
a stenographic reporter. All the provisions of this chapter in
reference to the subpoenaing of witnesses and the taking of
depositions are applicable to the hearing before the supervisor. On
the request of the supervisor, a hearing officer in the Office of
Administrative Hearings may assist and rule upon legal matters, but
such officer shall not make the determination specified in Section
3306.

3306. Upon the conclusion of the hearing, the supervisor shall
determine whether or not there is an unreasonable waste of gas in the
field, in existence or threatened, and shall also determine the
extent to which the waste of gas, occurring or threatened, is
unreasonable.

3307. If it appears that gas is being produced from any oil well or
wells in quantities exceeding a reasonable proportion to the amount
of oil produced from the same well or wells, even though it is shown
that such excess gas is being used in the generation of light, heat,
power, or any other industrial purpose, the supervisor shall hold
that such excess production of gas is unreasonable waste.

3308. If the waste of gas is found to be unreasonable, an order
shall be made by the supervisor directing that the unreasonable waste
of gas be discontinued or refrained from to the extent stated in the
order. The sale or delivery of gas to another by a lessor, lessee,
or operator shall be no defense, excuse, or reason for any lessor,
lessee, or operator disobeying an order of the supervisor directing
the discontinuance or curtailment of the production of the well or
wells from which gas is being produced.

3309. A copy of the supervisor's order shall be posted in a
conspicuous place upon the property affected, and the order shall
become final 10 days after posting, unless it is appealed from as
provided in Section 3350.

3310. When the decision of the supervisor that there is an
unreasonable waste of gas occurring or threatened has become final, a
certified copy thereof shall be filed with the director. The
director, unless the order is complied with voluntarily, shall have
proceedings instituted in the name of the people of the State of
California to enjoin the unreasonable waste of gas.
Such proceedings shall be instituted in the superior court of the
county in which is situated the property, or any part thereof, where
the wastage is occurring or is threatened. Any number of defendants
may be joined in the same proceeding, although their properties and
interests may be severally owned and their actual or threatened
unreasonable wastage of gas may be separate and distinct, if the
actual or threatened unreasonable waste by all of the defendants is
in, or with reference to, the same producing or prospective oil or
gas field.

3311. In those suits, a restraining order shall not be issued ex
parte, and a temporary or permanent injunction issued in the
proceedings shall not be refused or dissolved or stayed pending
appeal upon the giving of any bond or undertaking or otherwise, but
otherwise the procedure, including the procedure on appeal, shall be
conformable with the provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
525) of Title 7 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
In the proceedings, the findings of the supervisor, unless set
aside, or except to the extent modified, by the director, shall
constitute prima facie evidence of the unreasonable wastage of gas
therein found to be occurring or threatened.

3312. Whenever it appears to the director that the owners, lessors,
lessees, or operators of any well or wells producing oil and gas or
oil or gas are causing or permitting an unreasonable waste of gas, he
may institute, or have proceedings instituted, in the name of the
people of the State of California, to enjoin the unreasonable waste
of gas regardless of whether proceedings have or have not been
instituted under sections 3302 to 3305, and regardless of whether an
order has or has not been made therein.
Such proceedings shall be instituted in the superior court of the
county in which is situated the well or wells, or any thereof, from
which the unreasonable waste of gas is occurring. The owners,
lessors, lessees, or operators causing or permitting an unreasonable
waste of gas in the same oil or gas field may be made parties to the
action, although their properties and interests may be separately
owned and their unreasonable waste separate and distinct.

3313. In such suits a restraining order shall not be issued ex
parte, and a temporary or permanent injunction issued in such
proceedings shall not be refused or dissolved or stayed pending
appeal upon the giving of any bond or undertaking or otherwise, but
otherwise the procedure shall be governed by the provisions of
Chapter III of Title VII of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

3314. Proceedings to enjoin waste as contemplated by this chapter
shall be special proceedings restricted to the single issue whether
gas is being produced or is threatened to be produced in unreasonably
wasteful quantities and the extent to which such production should
be enjoined on behalf of the State of California.