| (a) Assignment of a state oil and gas lease. All or part of a state oil and gas leasehold interest may be assigned at any time, except as prohibited by statute, administrative rule, or common law. All assignments, including assignments of overriding royalty interests on Relinquishment Act lands, must be recorded in each county in which all or part of the original acreage covered by the lease is located. The original recorded assignment or a certified copy thereof shall be filed in the GLO within 90 days of its execution. For purposes of this paragraph, the last execution date shown on the instrument shall be deemed to be the date of execution. The following must accompany each assignment required to be filed and every counterpart so filed in the GLO under this subsection: (1) a list clearly designating each state lease, as identified by its mineral file number, affected by the assignment; (2) the payment of the filing fee required by §3.31 of this title, (relating to Fees) for each state lease, as identified by its mineral file number, affected by the assignment; (3) an adequate legal description of the premises assigned, including the survey name, block, township, county, and any other descriptive information requested by the GLO; (4) in cases of vertical severance, partial assignments of state oil and gas leases shall be filed in the same manner as complete assignments are filed, and must include a metes and bounds description of the area so assigned, including relevant plats, unless the area assigned can be and is accurately described as a part of the section; and (5) in cases of horizontal severance, partial releases of state oil and gas leases shall be filed in the GLO, and shall include a description of all relevant depths and formations. (b) Any assignment not accompanied by the required information or fees shall not be accepted for filing. If an assignment is not properly filed within 90 days of its execution, the filing fee due shall be double the usual fee. (c) In-lieu assignments will not be accepted or filed in the records of the GLO. (d) An assignee cannot use a failure to comply with the requirements in this section to avoid its liability to the state. (e) The liability of an assignor of any state oil and gas lease to properly discharge its obligations under the lease, including properly plugging abandoned wells, removing platforms or pipelines, or remediation of contamination at drill sites shall pass to the assignee upon proper written consent of the commissioner. The commissioner may not withhold the consent unreasonably. The commissioner may require the transferee to demonstrate that it has the financial responsibility to properly discharge its obligations under the lease and may require the transferee to post a bond or provide other security to secure those obligations if the transferee is unable to demonstrate such financial responsibility to the satisfaction of the commissioner. (f) If an assignment has not been properly filed, the commissioner may forfeit the lease at his discretion. (g) The current holder of a lease or of any interest therein shall be responsible for proper filing with the GLO of any assignments not previously filed by any predecessor in interest. (h) The heir, devisee, executor, or administrator, as the case may be, of the estate of an assignee may file a statement of the parties entitled to hold the interest of the assignee in the lease. Such statement should include a list by mineral file number of all leases affected. No filing fee shall be required. (i) Should an assignee formally change names, a notice of name change, accompanied by a list of file numbers of all leases affected, shall be submitted to the GLO. No filing fee shall be required. (j) A corporate merger shall be considered an assignment under this section. A certified copy of the certificate of merger shall be furnished to the GLO not later than 90 days after it is accepted for filing by the Secretary of the State of Texas. A list of each state lease affected by the merger shall accompany the certified copy of the certificate of merger. Leases held by the surviving corporation prior to the merger need not be listed, unless the name of the surviving corporation is changed, in which event subsection (i) of this section shall apply. (k) A deed of trust, mortgage or other security agreement shall be considered an assignment under this subsection. If a state lease is subject to a deed of trust, mortgage or other security agreement, a memorandum of such instrument shall be furnished to the GLO in accordance with this section. (l) Upon complete compliance with this subsection, the assignee will: (1) succeed to all rights and be subject to all liabilities, obligations, penalties, and the like incurred by any prior lessee, including any liability to the state for unpaid royalty; and (2) assume all obligations, liabilities, and consequences arising from all covenants, conditions, and terms (whether express or implied) of the lease. (m) Assignments of Relinquishment Act lease to surface owner. A surface owner may acquire by assignment a lease which he or she executed on land subject to the Relinquishment Act only by complying with Texas Natural Resources Code, §52.188, and any other relevant laws or regulations. See also §9.22(2) of this title, (relating to Leasing Procedures). (n) Acceptance of an assignment by the GLO does not waive any claim the agency may have against a party relating to that assignment. |
