An agreement for the unit or cooperative development and operation of a field or pool, in connection with the conduct of repressuring or pressure maintenance operations, cycling or recycling operations, including the extraction and separation of liquid hydrocarbons from natural gas in connection therewith, or any other method of operation, including water floods, is authorized and may be performed and may not be held or construed to violate any of the statutes of this state relating to trusts, monopolies, or contracts and combinations in restraint of trade, if the agreement is approved by the commission as being in the public interest, protective of correlative rights, and reasonably necessary to increase ultimate recovery or to prevent waste of oil or gas. Such agreements bind only the persons who execute them, and their heirs, successors, assigns, and legal representatives.