West Virginia Code 22C-8-3 – Application of article; exclusions
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of this article shall apply to all lands located in this state, under which a coal seam as defined in section two of this article and section one, article six, chapter twenty-two of this code, is located, however owned, including any lands owned or administered by any government or any agency or subdivision thereof, over which the state has jurisdiction under its police power. The provisions of this article are in addition to and not in derogation of or substitution for the provisions of this chapter or chapter twenty-two of this code.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22C-8-3
- Gas: means all natural gas and all other fluid hydrocarbons not defined as oil in subdivision (15) of this section. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Oil: means natural crude oil or petroleum and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, which are produced at the well in liquid form by ordinary production methods and which are not the result of condensation of gas after it leaves the underground reservoir. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
- Shallow well: means any gas well other than a coalbed methane well, drilled no deeper than one hundred feet below the top of the "Onondaga Group": Provided, That in no event may the "Onondaga Group" formation or any formation below the "Onondaga Group" be produced, perforated or stimulated in any manner. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
- 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
(b) This article shall not apply to or affect:
(1) Deep wells;
(2) Oil wells and enhanced oil recovery wells associated with oil wells;
(3) Any shallow well as to which no objection is made under section seventeen, article six, chapter twenty-two of this code;
(4) Wells as defined in subdivision (4), section one, article nine, chapter twenty-two of this code; or
(5) Free gas rights.