00 SENATE BILL NO. 180                                                                                                   
01 "An Act relating to the noncompetitive leasing of state land for oil and gas                                            
02 development."                                                                                                           
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04    * Section 1.  AS 38.05.180(d) is amended to read:                                                                  
05  (d)  The commissioner                                                                                                 
06   (1)  may annually offer oil and gas leases of the acreage described in                                               
07 AS 38.05.035(e)(6)(F);                                                                                                  
08   (2)  may issue oil and gas leases in an area that has not been included                                              
09 in a leasing program prepared, in accordance with (b) of this section, if the land to be                                
10 leased                                                                                                                  
11   (A)  was previously subject to a valid state or federal oil and gas                                                 
12 lease;                                                                                                                  
13   (B)  is contiguous to land already under state, federal, or private                                                 
14 lease and the commissioner makes a written finding, after hearing, that leasing                                         
01 of the land would result in a substantial probability of early evaluation and                                           
02 development of the land to be leased;                                                                                   
03   (C)  is adjacent to land owned or controlled by another party on                                                    
04 which a discovery of commercial quantities of oil or gas has been made, and                                             
05 the commissioner finds, after hearing, that there is a reasonable probability that                                      
06 the land to be leased contains oil or gas in communication with the oil or gas                                          
07 discovered on the land of the other party;                                                                              
08   (D)  is adjacent to land included in the federal five-year Outer                                                    
09 Continental Shelf leasing program under 43 U.S.C. 1344, and the commissioner                                            
10 makes a written finding, after hearing, that coordinated or simultaneous leasing                                        
11 with the federal government is in the public interest; or                                                               
12   (E)  is the subject of an oil and gas exploration license issued                                                    
13 under AS 38.05.131 - 38.05.134 ;                                                                                       
14   (3)  shall offer noncompetitive oil and gas leases under (y) of this                                                 
15 section .                                                                                                              
16    * Sec. 2.  AS 38.05.180(f) is amended to read:                                                                     
17  (f)  Except as provided by AS 38.05.131 - 38.05.134 ,  and 38.05.177,  and (y)                                     
18 of this section,  the commissioner may issue oil and gas leases on state land to the                                   
19 highest responsible qualified bidder as follows:                                                                        
20   (1)  the commissioner shall issue an oil and gas lease to the successful                                             
21 bidder determined by competitive bidding under regulations adopted by the                                               
22 commissioner; bidding may be by sealed bid or according to any other bidding                                            
23 procedure the commissioner determines is in the best interests of the state;                                            
24   (2)  whenever, under any of the leasing methods listed in this                                                       
25 subsection, a royalty share is reserved to the state, it shall be delivered in pipeline                                 
26 quality and free of all lease or unit expenses, including but not limited to separation,                                
27 cleaning, dehydration, gathering, salt water disposal, and preparation for transportation                               
28 off the lease or unit area;                                                                                             
29   (3)  following a pre-sale analysis, the commissioner may choose at least                                             
30 one of the following leasing methods:                                                                                   
31   (A)  a cash bonus bid with a fixed royalty share reserved to the                                                    
01 state of not less than 12.5 percent in amount or value of the production                                                
02 removed or sold from the lease;                                                                                         
03   (B)  a cash bonus bid with a fixed royalty share reserved to the                                                    
04 state of not less than 12.5 percent in amount or value of the production                                                
05 removed or sold from the lease and a fixed share of the net profit derived from                                         
06 the lease of not less than 30 percent reserved to the state;                                                            
07   (C)  a fixed cash bonus with a royalty share reserved to the state                                                  
08 as the bid variable but no less than 12.5 percent in amount or value of the                                             
09 production removed or sold from the lease;                                                                              
10   (D)  a fixed cash bonus with the share of the net profit derived                                                    
11 from the lease reserved to the state as the bid variable;                                                               
12   (E)  a fixed cash bonus with a fixed royalty share reserved to the                                                  
13 state of not less than 12.5 percent in amount or value of the production                                                
14 removed or sold from the lease with the share of the net profit derived from                                            
15 the lease reserved to the state as the bid variable;                                                                    
16   (F)  a cash bonus bid with a fixed royalty share reserved to the                                                    
17 state based on a sliding scale according to the volume of production or other                                           
18 factor but in no event less than 12.5 percent in amount or value of the                                                 
19 production removed or sold from the lease;                                                                              
20   (G)  a fixed cash bonus with a royalty share reserved to the state                                                  
21 based on a sliding scale according to the volume of production or other factor                                          
22 as the bid variable but not less than 12.5 percent in amount or value of the                                            
23 production removed or sold from the lease;                                                                              
24   (4)  notwithstanding a requirement in the leasing method chosen of a                                                 
25 minimum fixed royalty share, on and after March 3, 1997, the lessee under a lease                                       
26 issued in the Cook Inlet sedimentary basin who is the first to file with the                                            
27 commissioner a nonconfidential sworn statement claiming to be the first to have drilled                                 
28 a well discovering oil or gas in a previously undiscovered oil or gas pool and who is                                   
29 certified by the commissioner within one year of completion of that discovery well to                                   
30 have drilled a well in that pool that is capable of producing in paying quantities shall                                
31 pay a royalty of five percent on all production of oil or gas from that pool attributable                               
01 to that lease for a period of 10 years following the date of discovery of that pool, and                                
02 thereafter the royalty payable on all production of oil or gas from the pool attributable                               
03 to that lease shall be determined and payable as specified in the lease; for purposes of                                
04 this paragraph, the reduced royalty authorized by this paragraph is subject to the                                      
05 following:                                                                                                              
06   (A)  only one reduction of royalty authorized by this paragraph                                                     
07 may be allowed on each lease that qualifies for reduction of royalty under this                                         
08 paragraph;                                                                                                              
09   (B)  if, under this paragraph, application is made for a royalty                                                    
10 reduction for a lease that was entered into before March 3, 1997, the                                                   
11 commissioner may approve the application only if, on that date, the lease was                                           
12 a nonproducing lease that was not committed to a unit approved by the                                                   
13 commissioner under (m) of this section, that is not part of a unit under (p) or                                         
14 (q) of this section, and that has not been made part of a unit under AS 31.05;                                          
15   (C)  if application for a royalty reduction is made under this                                                      
16 paragraph for a lease on which a discovery royalty was claimed or may be                                                
17 claimed under the discovery royalty provisions of former AS 38.05.180(a) in                                             
18 effect before May 6, 1969, the commissioner shall disallow the application                                              
19 under this paragraph unless the applicant waives the right to claim the right to                                        
20 a reduced royalty under the discovery royalty provisions of former                                                      
21 AS 38.05.180(a) in effect before May 6, 1969; and                                                                       
22   (D)  the commissioner shall adopt regulations setting out the                                                       
23 standards, criteria, and definitions of terms that apply to implement the filing                                        
24 of applications for, and the review and certification of, discovery oil and gas                                         
25 royalty certifications under this paragraph;                                                                            
26   (5)  notwithstanding and in lieu of a requirement in the leasing method                                              
27 chosen of a minimum fixed royalty share, or the royalty provision of a lease, for leases                                
28 unitized as described in (p) of this section, leases subject to an agreement described                                  
29 in (s) or (t) of this section, or interests unitized under AS 31.05, the lessee of all or                               
30 part of an oil or gas field identified in this section that has been granted approval of                                
31 a written plan submitted to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission under                                        
01 AS 31.05.030(i) shall, subject to (dd) of this section, pay a royalty of five percent on                                
02 the first 25,000,000 barrels of oil and the first 35,000,000,000 cubic feet of gas                                      
03 produced for sale from that field that occurs in the 10 years following the date on                                     
04 which the production for sale commences; the fields eligible for royalty reduction                                      
05 under this paragraph, all of which are located within the Cook Inlet sedimentary basin,                                 
06 were discovered before January 1, 1988, and have been undeveloped or shut in from                                       
07 at least January 1, 1988, through December 31, 1997, are                                                                
08   (A)  Falls Creek;                                                                                                   
09   (B)  Nicolai Creek;                                                                                                 
10   (C)  North Fork;                                                                                                    
11   (D)  Point Starichkof;                                                                                              
12   (E)  Redoubt Shoal; and                                                                                             
13   (F)  West Foreland.                                                                                                 
14    * Sec. 3.  AS 38.05.180(w) is amended to read:                                                                     
15  (w)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, land that was subject                                      
16 to a best interest finding issued within the previous 10 years may be, at the discretion                                
17 of the commissioner, immediately offered for lease, under regulations adopted by the                                    
18 commissioner, upon terms appearing most advantageous to the state [; HOWEVER,                                           
19 NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING IS PROHIBITED].  The commissioner shall establish                                                
20 a royalty determined to be in the public interest but not less than 12 1/2 percent.  A                                  
21 lease must provide for payment to the state of rental but need not adhere to the rental                                 
22 schedule in (n) of this section nor to the 5,760-acres-per-lease limitation in (m) of this                              
23 section.  The lease term may not exceed 10 years, except as provided in (o) of this                                     
24 section.                                                                                                                
25    * Sec. 4.  AS 38.05.180(y) is amended to read:                                                                     
26  (y)  The provisions of this subsection apply to oil and gas leases on state                                          
27 land that are issued on a noncompetitive basis.  Under this subsection,                                                 
28   (1)  except as to state land that must be competitively leased for oil                                               
29 and gas development, the commissioner shall lease state land noncompetitively                                           
30 when the commissioner determines that noncompetitive leases for oil and gas                                             
31 development are in the best interests of the state; the commissioner                                                    
01   (A)  shall issue noncompetitive leases under general                                                                
02 regulations adopted by the commissioner;                                                                                
03   (B)  shall issue noncompetitive leases in units of no more                                                          
04 than 2,560 acres in one lease;                                                                                          
05   (C)  shall issue  a noncompetitive lease conditioned upon the                                                       
06 lessee's payment of                                                                                                     
07   (i)  an annual rent of 50 cents an acre or fraction of                                                             
08 an acre in advance, except that, beginning on the date of the                                                           
09 discovery of oil or gas in paying quantities on the land that is                                                        
10 leased, a minimum royalty of $1 an acre is payable at the expiration                                                    
11 of each lease year instead of rent; and                                                                                 
12   (ii)  a royalty of 12 1/2 percent in amount or value of                                                            
13 the production removed or sold from the lease;                                                                          
14   (D)  shall, subject to (F) of this paragraph, issue a                                                               
15 noncompetitive lease for a primary term of  five years; at the end of the                                               
16 five-year term of the lease,                                                                                            
17   (i)  the lease shall continue in effect so long thereafter                                                         
18 as oil or gas is produced from the lease in paying quantities;                                                          
19   (ii)  if drilling, including redrilling, sidetracking, or                                                          
20 other measures that the lessee believes are necessary to reach the                                                      
21 originally proposed bottom hole location, has commenced and is                                                          
22 continued with reasonable diligence, the lease shall continue in                                                        
23 effect until 90 days after drilling has ceased and for so long                                                          
24 thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities;                                                              
25   (E)  shall, at the end of the period described in (D) of this                                                       
26 paragraph and subject to (F) of this paragraph, if the lease has been                                                   
27 maintained in accordance with applicable requirements and regulations,                                                  
28 provide to the record titleholder of the lease a single extension of the lease,                                         
29 unless otherwise provided by law; an extension of a lease under this                                                    
30 subparagraph is subject to the regulations in effect at the expiration of the                                           
31 initial term of the lease; if the extension is for a lease of land                                                      
01   (i)  that the commissioner reasonably believes to be                                                               
02 capable of producing oil or gas, the extension is for a period of two                                                   
03 years and for so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying                                                    
04 quantities; or                                                                                                          
05   (ii)  other than land described in (i) of this                                                                     
06 subparagraph, the extension is for a period of five years and for so                                                    
07 long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities;                                                         
08   (F)  may extend a lease under (D) or (E) of this paragraph                                                          
09 only if, within a period of 90 days before the expiration date of the                                                   
10 primary term of the lease, the record titleholder, an assignee whose                                                    
11 assignment has been submitted for approval, or an operator whose                                                        
12 operating agreement has been submitted for approval files an application                                                
13 for the extension;                                                                                                      
14  (G)  may, notwithstanding the conditions of (D) - (F) of this                                                       
15 paragraph, provide for extension of the term of a lease entered into                                                    
16 under this paragraph if all or part of the lease is                                                                     
17   (i)  included in an approved unit plan under (p) or (q)                                                            
18 of this section or in a development program under (s) of this                                                           
19 section;                                                                                                                
20   (ii)  subject to conditions made under (t) of this                                                                 
21 section; or                                                                                                             
22   (iii)  included in a secondary recovery operation to                                                               
23 bring about or restore oil or gas production;                                                                           
24   (2)  notwithstanding (1) of this subsection, a  [A] noncompetitive lease                                            
25 existing at October 10, 1978 ,  shall be extended for a period of two years and so long                               
26 thereafter as oil and gas is produced in paying quantities ; a  [.  A] noncompetitive lease                           
27 extended under this  paragraph  [SUBSECTION] is subject to the regulations in force                                   
28 at the expiration of the initial five-year term of the lease ; an  [.  NO] extension may                              
29  not  be granted, however, unless ,  within a period of 90 days before the expiration date ,                      
30 an application for extension is filed by the record  titleholder  [TITLE HOLDER] or                                   
31 an assignee whose assignment has been filed for approval, or an operator whose                                          
01 operating agreement has been filed for approval.