Title Examination Standards
Chapter 1, App.
Chapter 3. Instruments in the Record
§3.3. Oil and Gas Leases and Mineral and Royalty Interests.

The recording of a certificate supplied by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission under 17 O.S. §§ 167 & 168, covering property described in an unreleased oil and gas lease or a mineral or royalty conveyance or reservation for a term of years, the primary term of which has expired prior to the date of the certificate, which certificate reflects no production and no exceptions from the property described in the lease, mineral or royalty conveyance or reservation, creates a presumption of the marketability of the title to such property as against third parties who may assert that such lease, conveyance or reservation is, in fact, valid and subsisting. Provided: such a certificate must also include such additional land which said property may have been spaced or unitized by either the Corporation Commission or by recorded declaration pursuant to the lease or other recorded instrument as of the date of the expiration of the primary term.

Comment: Said Act originally applied only to oil and gas leases, as did the standard as originally adopted October 1947. The Act was amended in 1951 so as to cover term mineral conveyances, as well as oil and gas leases, and the Standard was then amended in November, 1954. By said Act, such certificates constitute prima facie evidence that no such oil and gas lease or term mineral conveyance is in force, which, if not refuted, will support a decree for specific performance of a contract to deliver a marketable title. The facts in Wilson v. Shasta Oil Co., 171 Okla. 467, 43 P.2d 769 (1935), disclose that the Court only held that proof to establish marketability cannot be shown by affidavit of nondevelopment. Beatty v. Baxter, 208 Okla. 686, 258 P.2d 626 (1953), is deemed not to affect prima facie marketability as provided for in the statute. Note: This standard does not apply to Osage County, where oil and gas operations are not under the control and supervision of the Corporation Commission. Caveat: The Corporation Commission has been known to issue clear certificates of non-development when, in fact, a well has been drilled and not plugged; therefore, cautious attorneys will also advise their clients to satisfy themselves there is no well nor production upon any of said property and that the lease is not being kept alive by in lieu royalty payments or production not reported to the Corporation Commission. The examiner should also be aware that the documents evidencing spacing or unitization may either be unrecorded or only appear in the records of the Corporation Commission.

Adopted as G, October 31, 1947, 18 O.B.A.J. 1750, 1751 (1947); became 10 on renumbering, 19 O.B.A.J. 223, 225 (1948), at which time the Note was added. The standard was amended, November 18, 1954, 1954 Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Oklahoma Bar Association at 91-92 (see also 177) by adding the words, "or a mineral or royalty conveyance." The form of the motion did not include amendment to the comment. Therefore, only the two sentences beginning, "By said act," and concluding, "an affidavit of nondevelopment," of the Comment as printed above had been officially adopted prior to 1962.

The 1962 Real Property Committee recommended that the first two sentences and the last sentence of the comment as it appears above also be officially adopted, see Recommendation (7), 33 O.B.A.J. 2157, 2183 (1962). This recommendation was adopted by the Real Property Section and the House of Delegates, see id . at 2470.

The 1980 Title Examination Standards Committee of the Real Property Section recommended that the Caveat be added, 51 O.B.J. 2726 (1980). The recommendation was approved by the Real Property Section, December 3, 1980, and adopted by the House of Delegates, December 5, 1980.

This standard was further amended December 3, 1982. The amendment was proposed by Report of 1982 Title Examination Standards Committee, 53 O.B.J. 2731-32 (1980), approved by Real Property Section, December 2, 1982, and then adopted by the House of Delegates.

The report of the 1987 Title Examination Standards Committee recommended amending the body of the standard and the "Caveat", 58 O.B.J. 2839-40 (1987). The Real Property Section approved the recommendation November 12, 1987, and the House of Delegates adopted it on November 13, 1987. The amendment added the words "reflecting no production and no exceptions" to the first sentence of the body of the standard and the words "clear" and "therefore" to the first sentence of the "Caveat". The amendment added the last sentence of the "Caveat" also.

The 1991 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 62 O.B.A.J. 3269 (1991), proposed amending the operative language from "renders a title marketable as against an unreleased oil and gas lease or conveyance or reservation" to "creates a presumption of marketability" against persons claiming under such lease or conveyance or reservation, to correlate with the statutory language. The proposal was approved by the Real Property Section November 14, 1991, and by the House of Delegates November 15, 1991, 62 O.B.A.J. 3531 (1991).

The 2020 Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee of the Real Property Law Section recommended the following editorial changes to the Title Standards as they appear on OSCN to bring the printed handbook and OSCN into conformity. The Real Property Section approved the proposal, and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 13, 2020. (superseded document available)