{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-353.640","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 353.640","heading":"Pooling order -- Notice -- Provisions -- Surrender or sharing of interest --","body":"Limited participation -- Review under KRS 353.700.\n(1) The operator shall provide a list to the department of all persons reasonably known\nto own an oil or gas interest in any tract, or portion thereof, proposed to be pooled in\nan application to the department for a pooling order. A pooling order shall be made\nonly after the applicant provides notice to all persons reasonably known to own an\noil or gas interest in any t ract, or a portion thereof, proposed to be pooled. In the\nevent of the filing of an application for a pooling order under KRS 353.630(2)\nwhere unknown owners or nonlocatable owners exist, the operator shall cause to be\npublished, not more than thirty (30) days prior to the submission of an application\nfor pooling, one (1) notice in the newspaper of the largest circulation in each county\nin which any tract, or portion thereof, proposed to be pooled is located. The notice\nshall:\n(a) State that an application for a pooling order is being filed with the division;\n(b) Describe any tract, or portion thereof, proposed to be pooled;\n(c) In the case of an unknown owner, identify the name of the last known owner;\n(d) In the case of a nonlocatable owner, identify the o wner and the owner's last\nknown address; and\n(e) State that any party claiming an interest in any tract, or portion thereof,\nproposed to be pooled should contact the operator at the published address\nand provide a copy of the notification to the director w ithin twenty (20) days\nof the date of publication.\nThe applicant shall file proof of notice with the division concurrently with the\napplication.\n(2) A pooling order shall authorize the drilling, deepening, or reopening, and the\noperation of a well for the  production of oil or gas on the tracts or portions thereof\npooled; shall designate the operator to drill and operate the well; shall prescribe the\ntime and manner in which all owners of operating interests in the pooled tracts or\nportions thereof may elec t to participate therein; shall provide that all reasonable\ncosts and expenses of drilling, deepening, or reopening, and the completing,\noperating, plugging, and abandoning the well shall be borne, and all production\nfrom the well shall be shared by all ow ners of operating interests in proportion to\nthe net mineral acres in the pooled tracts owned or under lease to each owner; and\nshall make provision for the payment of the reasonable actual cost thereof,\nincluding a reasonable charge for supervision, by al l those who elect to participate\ntherein.\n(3) A pooling order shall establish a procedure for the owner of an operating interest\nwho does not decide to become a participating operator to elect to either:\n(a) Surrender, by means of sale or lease, the intere st to a participating operator on\na reasonable basis and for a reasonable consideration, which if not agreed\nupon shall be determined by the director; or\n(b) Share in the operation of the well as a nonparticipating operator on a carried\nbasis after the proceeds allocable to his or her share equal two hundred percent\n(200%) of the share of the costs allocable to his or her interest.\n(4) An oil or gas owner whose identity and location remain unknown after thirty (30)\ndays has passed from the date of publicati on required by subsection (1) of this\nsection and whose interest is pooled pursuant to KRS 353.630(3) shall be deemed to\nhave elected to lease the interest to the oil or gas operator, exclusive of one -eighth\n(1/8) of the production attributable to the unle ased interest, and shall not be entitled\nto make the election established in subsection (3) of this section.\n(5) Except as provided in this subsection, an oil or gas owner who does not make an\nelection under the pooling order within thirty (30) days of the  entry of the order\nshall be deemed to have leased the oil or gas interest to the oil or gas well operator\nin the manner established in subsection (4) of this section. If the holder of an\noperating interest has obtained the interest by lease or other agree ment granting the\nright to conduct operations to anyone other than the holder of the oil and gas estate,\nand if the owner of the operating interest does not make an election under the\npooling order, the holder of the operating interest shall be deemed to have elected to\nshare in the operation of the well as a nonparticipating operator on a carried basis\nafter the proceeds allocable to his or her share equal two hundred percent (200%) of\nthe share of the costs allocable to his or her interest.\n(6) A person w hose interest is subject to an oil or gas lease or other agreement which\ngrants to another the right to operate or conduct operations shall not own an\noperating interest for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section.\n(7) The department shall provide a copy of the pooling order entered under KRS\n353.500 to 353.720 to those required to be noticed. A certified copy of any pooling\norder shall be recorded by the operator in the office of the county clerk of the county\nor counties in which all or any portion of the pooled tract is located, and the record\nof the order, from the time of lodging the order for record, shall be deemed to be\ndelivery of the order to all unknown or nonlocatable owners.\n(8) Any order or final determinati on of the department under this section shall be\nsubject to review in accordance with KRS 353.700 and any administrative\nregulations promulgated thereunder.","path":["KRS Chapter 353"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47763","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:40Z","sha256":"7f76729b339e566c27f23e9f9e34ce3a87e64ded363474fb86e1d7a534f87837","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-353.630","next":"us-ky/krs-353.645"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}