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aging oil and gas drilling is a state law that allows ownership of underlying oil and minerals to be severed from ownership of the land's surface. When many South Dakota farms and ranches were sold, the original owners kept rights to any minerals under that land.
• Mineral interests passed down through several generations have been divided among many heirs, so companies will be reluctant to drill in areas where it's difficult to track down all the people who hold a share of those mineral rights, said Amanda Reiss, another legislative staffer.
• One state law allows rights to minerals and oil to return to the surface owner if they are unused for 23 years, but that provision may be unconstitutional, Reiss said.
• Another way to sort out ownership of oil underlying the land would be to have

counties assess property taxes on those rights, Reiss said. If those taxes are not paid for a number of years, the oil rights could be sold to an easily identifiable owner, she said.
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