West Virginia Code 37B-1-2 – Declaration of public policy; legislative findings
It is declared to be the public policy of this state and in the public interest to:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 37B-1-2
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Operator: means any owner of at least an undivided three-fourths interest of the right to develop, operate and produce oil, natural gas, or their constituents, and to appropriate the oil, natural gas, or their constituents produced therefrom. See West Virginia Code 37B-1-3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(1) Foster, encourage and promote exploration for and development, production, and conservation of oil, natural gas and their constituents;
(2) Prohibit waste of oil, natural gas, and their constituents and unnecessary surface loss of oil, natural gas, and their constituents;
(3) Encourage the maximum recovery of oil, natural gas, and their constituents;
(4) Safeguard, protect and enforce the correlative rights of operators and mineral owners in that each such operator and mineral owner may obtain his or her just and equitable share of production;
(5) Safeguard, protect and enforce the integrity of the passive royalty owner’s interest in his or her minerals.
(6) Safeguard, protect and enforce the rights of surface owners; and
(7) Protect and enforce the clear provisions of contracts lawfully made.