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La. Rev. Stat. § 31:15 (2026)

Right of landowner to convey, reserve, or lease right to explore and develop

✓ current as of May 2026
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PART 5.  CREATION OF MINERAL RIGHTS

BY THE LANDOWNER

§15.  Right of landowner to convey, reserve, or lease right to explore and develop

A landowner may convey, reserve, or lease his right to explore and develop his land for production of minerals and to reduce them to possession.  

Acts 1974, No. 50, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1975.  

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 19 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1979–2022 · leading case: Musser Davis Land Co. v. Union Pac. Resources, 201 F.3d 561 (5th Cir. 2000).
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Musser Davis Land Co. v. Union Pac. Resources, 201 F.3d 561 (5th Cir. 2000). · cites it 2× “R.S. § 31:15; Frey, 603 So.2d at 171 . “In this manner, rights in minerals may be considered ‘separable component parts of the ownership of land.”
Kennedy v. Saheid, 209 So. 3d 985 (La. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “R.S. 31:15; Doyal v. Pickett, 628 So.2d 184 , 129 Oil & Gas Rep.”
Quality Env't Processes, Inc. v. IP Petroleum Co., 219 So. 3d 349 (La. Ct. App. 2017). “R.S. 31:15; LeSage v. Ellerbee Builders, Inc.”
Succession of Doll v. Doll, 593 So. 2d 1239 (La. 1992). · cites it 2× “La.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 31:15 (West 1989). The mineral lease is a contract by which the lessee is granted the right to explore for and produce minerals.”
Crooks v. Louisiana Pac. Corp., 155 So. 3d 686 (La. Ct. App. 2014). “R.S. 31:15. A mineral right is an incorporeal immovable that is alienable and heritable.”
Alyce Gaines Johnson Special Trust v. El Paso E & P Co., 773 F. Supp. 2d 640 (W.D. La. 2011). · cites it 2× “R.S. § 31:15 (emphasis added). In 1950, Plaintiffs ancestor did not place any limitations on his grant of mineral rights to Lessee.”
Plaquemines Par. Gov't v. State, 826 So. 2d 14 (La. Ct. App. 2002). “R.S. 31:15 states that "[a] landowner may convey, reserve, or lease his right to explore and develop his land for production of minerals and to reduce them to possession.”
Slay v. Smith, 368 So. 2d 1144 (La. Ct. App. 1979). “" [2] LSA-R.S. 31:15 provides: "A landowner may convey, reserve, or lease his right to explore and develop his land for production of minerals and to reduce them to possession.”
Dupree v. Oil, Gas & Other Minerals, 731 So. 2d 1067 (La. Ct. App. 1999). “R.S. 31:15. The basic mineral rights that can be created by a landowner are the mineral servitude, the mineral royalty, and the mineral lease.”
Matter of Succession of Lindsey, 477 So. 2d 148 (La. Ct. App. 1985). “LSA-R.S. 31:15, 24. Civil Code article 2339 does not make the mineral lease community property, only the fruits and proceeds from it.”
LeSage v. Ellerbee Builders, Inc., 424 So. 2d 282 (La. Ct. App. 1982). “-R.S. 31:15 provides that a landowner may create mineral rights by reservation.”
Wall v. Leger, 402 So. 2d 704 (La. Ct. App. 1981). “LSA-R.S. 31:15, 16, 21, 114. However, they are conceptually different; the distinction between a mineral servitude and a mineral lease is pronounced.”
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