Rights and privileges transferred
Sec. 6. A grant or reservation contained in an instrument that
affects land in Indiana and that purports to convey or transfer an
interest in the oil and gas in, on, under, or that may be produced from
beneath the surface of the land transfers the following expressed
rights and privileges in addition to any other rights naturally flowing
from the character of the instrument in law to the named recipient:
(1) A person in interest in the oil and gas estate in land may
enter the land for the purpose of:
(A) exploring, prospecting, testing, surveying, or otherwise
investigating the land to determine the potential of the land
for oil or gas production; or
(B) otherwise conducting operations for oil and gas on the
land;
whether or not the person is also the owner, lessee, or licensee
of an owner of an interest in the surface rights in the land.
(2) A person in interest in the oil and gas estate in land in
Indiana may enter the land to drill a well or test well on the land
for the production or attempted production of oil and gas
regardless of whether the:
(A) person is also the owner, lessee, or licensee of an owner
of an interest in the surface rights in the land; and
(B) owner of the remaining rights in the land consents to the
entrance and drilling.
A person that drills a well under this subdivision shall provide
an accounting to the remaining or nonparticipating persons in
interest in the oil and gas estate in the land, for their respective
proportionate shares of the net profits arising from the
operations conducted upon the land for oil or gas. In calculating
the profits, a reduction may not be made from the gross
proceeds of the production of oil and gas, except for expenses
that are reasonably or necessarily incurred in connection with
the drilling, completion, equipping, and operation of the wells
drilled upon the premises during the period in which the
relationship of cotenancy existed between the person drilling
the well and the person whose interest is sought to be charged
with the respective proportionate part of the cost of the drilling.
(3) A person who may enter and enters land in Indiana for the
purpose of exploring, prospecting, testing, surveying, or
otherwise investigating the potential of the land for oil and gas,
or for the purpose of conducting operations on the land for the
production of oil and gas, is accountable to the owner of the
surface of the land for the actual damage resulting from the
person's activities on the land to:
(A) the surface of the land;
(B) improvements to the land; or
(C) growing crops on the land.
However, a person who enters land under this subdivision is not
liable for punitive damages. This subdivision does not increase
damages between a lessor and a lessee in a valid and subsisting
oil and gas lease that specifies damages if damages are not due
other than damages that are expressly provided by contract
between cotenants or the lessees of cotenants of a like estate in
the land. This section does not authorize the location of a well
for oil and gas nearer than two hundred (200) feet to an existing
house, barn, or other structure (except fences) without the
express consent of the owner of the structure.
(4) The right to conduct operations for oil and gas upon land
located in Indiana includes the right to:
(A) install and maintain physical equipment on the land; and
(B) use the portion of the surface of the land that is
reasonably necessary for the operations;
subject to the payment of damages resulting from the
installation only of the equipment specified in this subdivision.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.8.
Last modified: May 24, 2006