Natural Resources Code § 52.152

Sec. 52.152. APPROVAL OF AGREEMENTS. (a) An agreement must be approved by the board and executed by the commissioner to be effective if the agreement commits: (1) a royalty interest in land belonging to the permanent school fund or the asylum funds, in riverbeds, inland lakes, and channels, or in an area within tidewater limits, including islands, lakes, bays, inlets, marshes, reefs, and the bed of the sea; or (2) the free royalty interests, whether leased or unleased, reserved to the state pursuant to Section 51.201 or 51.054 of this code. (b) An owner of the soil who is subject to Subchapter F of this chapter may grant to a lessee prior authority to pool or unitize the interest of the owner in a lease executed under that subchapter. For the provisions of an agreement to bind the interest of an owner of the soil who is subject to Subchapter F of this chapter and who has not granted the lessee prior authorization to pool or unitize the owner's interest in an oil and gas lease executed under that subchapter, the agreement must be executed by the owner of the soil. (c) An agreement that commits any interest in any land not listed in Subsection (a) of this section must be approved by the board, official, agent, agency, or authority of the state which has the authority to lease or to approve the lease of the land for oil and gas and must be executed by the commissioner to be effective. Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2457, ch. 871, art. I, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 948, Sec. 29, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 897, Sec. 33, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.