Office of Mineral Resources

Seal of the State Mineral and Energy Board
State Tracts
OFFSHORE
INLAND
STATE AGENCY
WHITE LAKE

Notice of Publication for the
March 10, 2004 Mineral Lease Sale

This is an informal or additional notice of publication being mailed to prospective bidders by the Office of Mineral Resources on behalf of the State Mineral Board for the State of Louisiana. The enclosed descriptions and plats have been prepared following a thorough review of information on file in the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Office of Mineral Resources, etc. and information furnished by the applicants. However, there is no guarantee that this Notice of Publication is error free due to the complex and subjective nature of property boundary descriptions; particularly with respect to water boundaries, section locations, survey datum and interpretive partial releases. Therefore, prospective bidders are encouraged to carefully verify the accuracy and completeness of all tracts to be bid upon. Furthermore, reliance on the following information regarding bidding and leasing procedure is unilaterally at the risk of all bidders inasmuch as the following information is provided solely for the convenience of and as an accommodation to prospective bidders. All prospective bidders are urged to refer to and strictly comply with the Bidding and Leasing provisions of Chapter 2, Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended.

Printing Official Plats

Every effort has been made by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources to ensure that the Official Plats contained herein will scale correctly when printed. Due to the nature of the Internet and the difference in the configuration of each individual printer, these maps may not scale correctly when printed on your printer. A bar scale is included on each Official Plat to verify the accuracy of each print. Prints should scale properly if the Fit to Page box on the Adobe Acrobat Reader Print Dialog Box is NOT checked.

The scale of all Official Plats will be one of the following: 1 inch = 2,000 feet, 1 inch = 3,000 feet or 1 inch = 4,000 feet.

It is the bidder's responsibility to ensure that all Official Plats, that are used with portion bids, scale correctly .

The descriptions of Tract Nos. 36130 through 36213 inclusive will be published in Baton Rouge on January 21, 2004 in "The Advocate", which is the Official Journal of the State of Louisiana and also in the Official Journal of the Parishes in which the property is located.

By virtue of and in conformity with the provisions of Sub-part A of Chapter 2, Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other applicable laws, sealed bids will be received in the Office of Mineral Resources, State Land and Natural Resources Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (P. O. Box 2827, Baton Rouge, LA 70821) on or before 12:00 noon on Tuesday, March 9, 2004 for a lease to explore, drill for and produce oil, gas and any other liquid or gaseous minerals in solution and produced with oil or gas on the following described tracts (Tract Nos. 36130 through 36213, inclusive) to be opened publicly Wednesday, March 10, 2004 in the LaSalle Office Building, 617 3rd Street, Capitol Complex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

All bids shall offer a "Cash Payment" bonus, as set forth on the authorized bid form, for a lease having a primary term in conformity with whether said lease is an inland or offshore lease and the said bonus shall maintain the lease in full force and effect for the first year. If the bid offers an ANNUAL DELAY RENTAL , which is mandatory for leases with terms of more than one (1) year, it shall not be for less than one-half ( 1/2 ) of the Cash Payment bonus bid and any bids containing an annual delay rental of less than one-half ( 1/2 ) of the Cash Payment bonus will be increased to the one-half ( 1/2 ) amount. Any lease granted shall be without warranty or any recourse whatsoever, either express or implied, against Lessor with regard to questions of title, not even for the return by Lessor of any payments received under the lease or being otherwise responsible therefor to Lessee. Under LSA- R. S. 30:127, the Minimum Royalty bid cannot be less than one-eighth (1/8) of all oil, gas or other liquid or gaseous minerals in solution and produced with oil or gas and saved or utilized. Rights to geothermal resources, free sulphur, potash, lignite, salt and other solid minerals are to be excluded from any oil or gas mineral lease and any bid purporting to include those rights will be disregarded as to the extent of those rights only. All bidders are notified that the Mineral Board does not obligate itself to accept any bid, and that acceptance is at the sole discretion of the Mineral Board which reserves the right to reject any and all bids or to grant a lease on any portion of the tract advertised and to withdraw the remainder of the tract.

Act 8 of the 2000 Second Extraordinary Legislative Session established two additional fees to be collected from mineral lessees on all mineral leases awarded. An additional fee of $10 per acre will be collected and deposited into the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation Fund. An additional fee of $5 per acre will be collected and deposited into the Oil and Gas Regulatory Fund. A separate check in the amount of $15 per acre made payable to the Office of Mineral Resources for receipt within ten (10) days after the bid is accepted and the lease is awarded. Bidders may use a regular check for payment of the fees. The successful bidder will not receive the lease executed by the State Mineral Board until the fees are received.

All leases awarded shall be executed upon terms and conditions provided in the current State lease form with all applicable riders appended thereto a copy of which is available for review in the Office of Mineral Resources, Petroleum Lands Division, Leasing Section.

Certified check, cashier's check or bank money order payable to the OFFICE OF MINERAL RESOURCES for the full amount of the aforesaid Cash Payment bonus shall be submitted with and accompany each bid, and no bid, once submitted, may be thereafter withdrawn or canceled. Once the bid is opened and accepted by the Mineral Board, the accompanying checks or money order shall be negotiated by the Office of Mineral Resources and the proceeds disbursed in the manner required by law.

SPECIAL NOTE:

Under rules promulgated by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources in accordance with authority granted by Act 13 of the First Extraordinary Session of the Louisiana Legislature of 1988, a fee equal to ten percent (10%) of the Cash Payment bonus bid is required to be submitted by separate check, either accompanying the original bid (inside the sealed bid envelope) or mailed to the Office of Mineral Resources for receipt within ten (10) days after the bid is accepted and the lease is awarded. Bidders may use a regular check for the 10% fee. The successful bidder will not receive the lease executed by the State Mineral Board until the fee is received. If the fee check accompanies the bid in the sealed envelope and the bidder is unsuccessful, both the fee check and the Cash Payment bonus check will be returned to the unsuccessful bidder.

The successful bidder to whom the lease is awarded who receives the written lease executed by the State Mineral Board shall return the written lease, duly executed by Lessee ( all of named Lessees on the lease instrument), within TWENTY (20) DAYS of receipt of same under penalty for failure to do so of forfeiture of the lease, including the Cash Payment bonus and fee tendered and negotiated.

Bids may be for the whole or any particularly described portion of the land advertised, but consistent with Mineral Board policy. All bidders are hereby notified that bids on portions of tracts shall be described by metes and bounds and be accompanied by a transparent plat outlining thereon the portion bid upon. The scale of the transparent plat shall be the same as the scale of the OFFICIAL PLAT (NOT THE F & A PLAT) CONTAINED HEREIN and should identify the Point of Beginning with X and Y coordinates (if applicable), the Section, Township and Range, the Block No. (if offshore), the Parish, any adjacent existing State Mineral Leases, and , further, should clearly show the entire tract boundaries in relationship to the portion bid upon. It shall also show the Topographic features (Land and Water) of the area in detail similar to the Official Plat contained herein. Failure to follow these guidelines in submitting a portion bid may result in outright rejection of the portion bid by the State Mineral Board at its sole discretion.

Notice is given that the State Mineral Board will include provisions in the lease to insure applicable payments attributable to the lease property without regard to adverse title claims, disputes, litigation or title failure and the language of those provisions is available to any interested party at the Office of Mineral Resources. Prospective bidders should carefully examine the same prior to submitting any bid.

Some tracts available for leasing may be situated in the Louisiana Coastal Zone as defined in Act 361 of the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature of 1978 (promulgated as LSA-R. S. 49:213) and may be subject to the guidelines and regulations promulgated by the Coastal Management Section of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources for operations in the Coastal Zone.

NOTE: All bids shall specify the Cash Payment bonus for leases as a price per acre amount and an aggregate total amount. For purposes of rental and deferred development payments, the price per acre amount set forth in the bid, when multiplied by the appropriate acreage, shall determine the full value of rental or deferred development payments to be made. If there are any discrepancies between the total State acreage specified in a lease and the actual State acreage within the geographical boundary of the lease tract, nevertheless, the price per acre specified in the bid for a lease shall be multiplied by the appropriate State acreage within the geographical boundary of the lease tract to compute rental or deferred development payments.

OFFSHORE TRACTS  Tracts 36130-36132 are the tracts which lie seaward of the Louisiana shoreline, as hereinafter defined, but landward of the survey line lying three nautical miles from the Louisiana shoreline, all as determined by the Report of the Special Master in the litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States styled United States v. State of Louisiana, et al, No. 9 Original and set out in the June 1975, Decree of the said Supreme Court. All bids on offshore tracts cannot specify a lease primary term exceeding five (5) years. Bids that specify a primary term exceeding five (5) years for an offshore tract may be rejected outright or the primary term changed to five (5) years at the sole discretion of the State Mineral Board.

INLAND TRACTS  Tracts 36133-36142 | 36143-36152 | 36153-36162 | 36163-36172 | 36173-36182 | 36183-36192 | 36193 are those tracts which lie landward of the Louisiana shoreline as defined by the report of the Special Master in the litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States styled United States v. State of Louisiana, et al, No. 9 Original and set out in the June 1975, Decree of the said Supreme Court. All bids on inland tracts cannot specify a lease primary term exceeding three (3) years. Bids that specify a primary term exceeding three (3) years for an inland tract may be rejected outright or the primary term changed to three (3) years at the sole discretion of the State Mineral Board.

STATE AGENCY TRACTS  Tracts 36194-36197 all State Agency Tracts are deemed Inland Tracts. In the case of State Agency Lands, which are offered for lease herein, certified checks, cashier's checks or bank money orders for the Cash Payment bonus accompanying each bid shall be made payable to each respective State Agency with the exception that, if a Sixteenth Section, or part thereof, which is located in a township which is situated in more than one parish is offered for lease, the certified check, cashier's check or bank money order for the full amount of the Cash Payment bonus shall be made payable to the STATE TREASURER. In all cases, the ten percent (10%) fee shall be paid by separate check made out to the Office of Mineral Resources. Any amendments, assignments or other agreements entered into after the State Mineral Board has awarded the State Agency Lease shall thereafter be approved by the respective State Agency or Agencies, not the State Mineral Board. Act 289 of the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature established a minimum royalty of not less that one sixth (1/6) for all leases affecting School Board lands.

WHITE LAKE TRACTS  Tracts 36198-36207 | 36208-36213 The maximum primary term of any lease on these tracts is three (3) years. Under the provisions of Special Act No. 92 of the 1942 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature the successful bidder who obtains a State mineral lease on the above listed Tracts, or portions thereof, in White Lake must, within sixty (60) days of obtaining said lease, obtain an additional lease, proof of which must be given to the Office of Mineral Resources, on the same Tracts from LLOG Exploration Company, L.L.C. (successor in title to Energy Development Corp.) And Avrico, Inc.[both successors in title to Acadian Vermilion Rice Irrigation Company, Inc.] the terms of which must closely follow the State lease form and contain a Cash Payment bonus of one-half (1/2) of that paid to the State and a royalty of not less than one-half (1/2) of that set forth in the State lease, neither of which will in any manner encroach on or decrease the Cash Payment bonus or royalties paid to the State under the State Lease awarded and providing further that the total royalty in the State lease and the lease obtained from LLOG Exploration Company, L.L.C. and Avrico, Inc. cannot be less than twenty-five percent (25%). The State Leases shall also include a paragraph providing that, at the end of the primary term of the lease, Lessee shall release in favor of Lessor all of the Lessee's right, title and interest in such lease or leases as to all depths 100 feet below the deepest formation producing, or deepest formation, behind pipe, capable of producing, at the expiration of the primary term.