Oklahoma § 17-168 - Certificate as prima facie evidence - Burden of proof

§ 17-168. Certificate as prima facie evidence - Burden of proof

If, and when a certificate, as provided in Section 1 hereof, has

been filed and recorded in the land records of the county in which

the tract of land described in said certificate is located, and such

certificate disclosed that no notice of intention to drill an oil

well or gas well on said described land has been filed with the

Commission, or discloses that as to all wells, for which notices to

drill on said lands have been filed, and there has been filed a

notice to plug, or discloses that no production has been reported

from said tract for six (6) months or more prior to the date of said

certificate, said certificate shall constitute prima facie evidence

of the actual status of production from, development of, or

abandonment of operations on said tract, and any person, firm or

corporation, who asserts the existence and validity of any oil and

gas lease, or conveyance, the primary term of which has expired, and

the existence and validity of which lease or conveyance is dependent

upon such development, production, or operations, as defeating the

merchantability of title to the tract covered by said certificate,

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission

or any part thereof, shall have the burden of proving that such

lease or conveyance is in fact valid and subsisting.

Laws 1945, p. 42, § 2; Laws 1951, p. 34, § 2.