Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (2026)
Definitions
✓ current as of July 2026
Unless the context otherwise requires, the words defined in this section shall have the following meaning when found in Sections 53-1-1 through 53-1-47, inclusive, and in Sections 53-3-3 through 53-3-21, inclusive:
- (a) "Board" shall mean the State Oil and Gas Board as created by Section 53-1-5.
- (b) "Person" shall mean any individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any state, municipality, political subdivision of any state, or any agency, department or instrumentality of the United States, or any other entity, or any officer, agent or employee of any of the above.
- (c) "Oil" shall mean crude petroleum oil and all 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.
- (d) "Gas" shall mean all natural gas, whether hydrocarbon or nonhydrocarbon or any combination or mixture thereof, including hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulphide, helium, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, casinghead gas, occluded natural gas from coal seams, compressed air and all other hydrocarbons not defined as oil in subsection (c) above.
- (e) "Pool" shall mean an underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of oil or gas or both. Each zone of a general structure which is completely separated from any other zone in the structure is included in the term "pool" as used herein.
- (f) "Field" shall mean the general area which is underlaid or appears to be underlaid by at least one (1) pool; and "field" shall include the underground reservoir or reservoirs containing oil or gas or both. The words "field" and "pool" mean the same thing when only one (1) underground reservoir is involved; however, "field," unlike "pool," may relate to two (2) or more pools.
- (g) "Owner" shall mean the person who has the right to drill into and produce from any pool, and to appropriate the production either for himself or for himself and another or others; "royalty owner" shall mean any person who possesses an interest in the production but who is not an "owner" as herein defined.
- (h) "Producer" shall mean the owner of a well or wells capable of producing oil or gas or both.
- (i) "Product" shall mean any commodity made from oil or gas, and shall include refined crude oil, processed crude petroleum, residuum from crude petroleum, cracking stock, uncracked fuel oil, fuel oil, treated crude oil, residuum, casinghead gasoline, natural gas gasoline, naphtha, distillate, gasoline, kerosene, waste oil, blended gasoline, lubricating oil, blends or mixtures of oil with one or more liquid products or by-products derived from oil or gas, and blends or mixtures of two (2) or more liquid products or by-products derived from oil, condensate, gas or petroleum hydrocarbons, whether hereinabove enumerated or not.
- (j) "Underground Injection Program" shall mean a program regulating the injection of any fluids produced or fluids associated with the exploration, storage and/or production of oil and/or gas and being among those other laws relating to the conservation of oil and gas as referred to in Section 53-1-17(a).
- (k) "Illegal oil and illegal gas" shall mean oil or gas which has been produced within the State of Mississippi from any well during any time that the well has produced in excess of the amount allowed by law or by any rule, regulation or order of the board. "Illegal product" shall mean any product derived, in whole or in part, from illegal oil or illegal gas.
- (l) "Waste" shall mean and include the following:
- (i) The inefficient, excessive or improper use or dissipation of reservoir energy; and the locating, spacing, drilling, equipping, operating or producing of any oil or gas well or wells in a manner which results or tends to result in reducing the quantity of oil or gas ultimately to be recovered from any pool in this state.
- (ii) The inefficient storing of oil; and the locating, spacing, drilling, equipping, operating or producing of any oil or gas well or wells in a manner causing or tending to cause unnecessary or excessive surface loss or destruction of oil or gas.
- (iii) Abuse of the correlative rights and opportunities of each owner of oil or gas in a pool due to nonuniform, disproportionate, or unratable withdrawals causing undue drainage between tracts of land or resulting in one or more owners in such pool producing more than his just and equitable share of the production from such pool.
- (iv) Producing oil or gas in such manner as to cause unnecessary channeling of water or gas or both or coning of water.
- (v) The operation of any oil well or wells with an inefficient gas-oil ratio.
- (vi) The drowning with water of any stratum or part thereof capable of producing oil or gas.
- (vii) The creation of unnecessary fire hazards.
- (viii) The escape into the open air, from a well producing both oil and gas, of gas in excess of the amount which is necessary in the efficient drilling or operation of the well.
- (ix) Permitting gas produced from a gas well to escape into open air.
- (x) The use of gas from gas wells, except sour gas, for the manufacture of carbon black, except and unless the board shall find that there are no adequate pipeline connections to otherwise market the gas.
- (m) "Drainage unit" or "drilling unit" shall mean the maximum area in a pool which may be assigned to one (1) well so as to produce the reasonably recoverable oil or gas in such area, shall be established by statewide rules or by special field rules of the board, and shall be of such size and configuration as will foster, encourage and promote the development, production and utilization of the natural resource of oil and gas.
- (n) "Developed area" or "developed unit" shall mean a drainage unit having a well completed therein which is capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities.
- (o) A "certificate of compliance" shall mean a certificate issued by the board showing compliance with the conservation laws of the state, and conservation rules, regulations and orders of the board, prior to connection with a pipeline.
- (p) A "certificate of clearance" shall mean a permit for the transportation or the delivery of oil, gas or products, approved and issued or registered under the authority of the board.
- (q) "Supervisor" or "State Oil and Gas Supervisor" shall mean the officer appointed by the State Oil and Gas Board pursuant to Section 53-1-7.
- (r) "Orphan well" shall mean any oil or gas well in the state, including Class II wells, which has not been properly plugged according to the requirements of the statutes, rules and regulations governing same and for which a responsible party such as an owner or operator cannot be located or for which, for whatever reason, there is no other party which can be forced to plug the well.
- (s) "Refined hydrocarbons" shall mean any refined petroleum products.
- (t) "Oil field exploration and production wastes" shall mean:
- (i) Any liquid, gaseous, solid, naturally occurring radioactive, or other substance(s), including but not limited to, any chemical, produced water, sludge, oil-water emulsion, oil field brine, waste oil, sediment, scale or other waste substance(s);
- (ii) Any equipment or any other related apparatus containing or contaminated with such substance(s) as set forth in subparagraph (i) above; or
- (iii) Any land or structures containing or contaminated with such substance(s) as set forth in subparagraph (i) above, which is associated with, produced by, or used in the exploration, drilling, and/or production of oil, gas or other minerals within the territorial limits of the State of Mississippi.
- (u) "Noncommercial disposal of oil field exploration and production waste" shall mean the storage, treatment, recovery, processing, disposal or acceptance of oil field exploration and production waste which is not commercial oil field exploration and production waste disposal as defined in Section 17-17-3.
Codes, 1942, § 6132-08; Laws, 1948, ch. 256, § 4; Laws, 1979, ch. 344; reenacted, Laws, 1982, ch. 485, § 2; Laws, 1988, ch. 496; Laws, 1989, ch. 444, § 1; reenacted and amended, Laws, 1990, ch. 357, § 12; reenacted without change, Laws, 1991, ch. 340, § 2; Laws, 1991, ch. 344 § 1; Laws, 1992, ch. 344 § 1; Laws, 1995, ch. 356, § 1, eff. 7/1/1995.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1984–2021 · leading case: Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp. v. State Oil & Gas Bd., 457 So. 2d 1298 (Miss. 1984).
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp. v. State Oil & Gas Bd., 457 So. 2d 1298 (Miss. 1984). “It is difficult, however, for us to see how there is waste of natural resources when an interstate pipe line company refuses to take ratably or otherwise.”
Boyles v. Mississippi State Oil & Gas Bd., 794 So. 2d 149 (Miss. 2001). “" Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (t)(i) (1999). "Oilfield exploration and production waste" is defined in such a way as to include oilfield NORM, the subject of Rule 69.”
Donald v. Amoco Prod. Co., 735 So. 2d 161 (Miss. 1999). “Miss.Code Ann. § 53-1-3( l )(ii) (Supp. 1998).”
Town of Bolton v. Chevron Oil Co., 919 So. 2d 1101 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005). “Miss.Code Ann. § 53-1-3(t) (Rev.2003); Howard, 899 So.”
McGowan v. Miss. State Oil & Gas Bd., 604 So. 2d 312 (Miss. 1992). “Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 ( l )(1) (1972 and Supp.”
TXG Intrastate Pipeline Co. v. Grossnickle, 716 So. 2d 991 (Miss. 1997). “The term "owner" is defined at Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (g) as "the person who has the right to drill into and produce from any pool, and to appropriate the production either for himself or for himself and another or others .”
Miss. Dept. of Environ. Qual. v. Weems, 653 So. 2d 266 (Miss. 1995). “2d at 322 citing Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 ( l )(1) (1972 & Supp.”
Sherman Boyles v. Mississippi State Oil & Gas Bd. (Miss. 1999). “§ 53-1-17 (7); Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (t)(i). ¶28. This Court, as well as other courts, have recognized the distinction between adjudicatory and rulemaking functions of an administrative agency.”
Michael Reese Davis & St. Paul PFU, LLC, a Louisiana LLC v. George Stephen Guido, KFG Petroleum Corp., a Mississippi Corp. & Mississippi State Oil & Gas Bd. (Miss. Ct. App. 2020). “2016) and Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (l) (Rev. 2016) (waste definition).”
Petro Harvester Oil & Gas Co., LLC, Petro Harvester Operating Co., LLC, Comstock Oil & Gas, LP, Jerry Huddleston, Gary McAdams, Champion Oilfield Serv., LLC, Boots Smith Oilfield Servs., LLC, Rockall Energy, LLC & Deepwell Energy Servs., LLC v. Tay Baucum & Deidra Baucum (Miss. 2021). “Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (t) (Rev. 2016).”
TXG Intrastate Pipeline Co v. Dean v. Grossnickle (Miss. 1994). “The term "owner" is defined at Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (g) as "the person who has the right to drill into and produce from any pool, and to appropriate the production either for himself or for himself and another or others.”
Gerald Donald v. Amoco Prod. Co. (Miss. 1997). “Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (l)(ii) (Supp. 1998).”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3(t) — 2 cases
Town of Bolton v. Chevron Oil Co., 919 So. 2d 1101 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005). “Miss.Code Ann. § 53-1-3(t) (Rev.2003); Howard, 899 So.”
Sherman Boyles v. Mississippi State Oil & Gas Bd. (Miss. 1999). “§ 53-1-17 (7); Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (t)(i). ¶28. This Court, as well as other courts, have recognized the distinction between adjudicatory and rulemaking functions of an administrative agency.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3(t)(i) — 1 case
Boyles v. Mississippi State Oil & Gas Bd., 794 So. 2d 149 (Miss. 2001). “" Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3 (t)(i) (1999). "Oilfield exploration and production waste" is defined in such a way as to include oilfield NORM, the subject of Rule 69.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 53-1-3(u) — 1 case
Town of Bolton v. Chevron Oil Co., 919 So. 2d 1101 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005). “Miss.Code Ann. § 53-1-3(t) (Rev.2003); Howard, 899 So.”
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