Chapter 23 'WE KNOW WHAT IT SAYS BUT HOW DOES IT WORK'-PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO TOUGH OPERATIONAL QUESTIONS UNDER THE FORM 2 UNIT OPERATING AGREEMENT

摘要

In 1994 Rocky Mountain Unit Operating Agreement Form 2- Divided Interest (Form 2) published by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation underwent significant revision.1 An excellent article explaining the revisions was published in the Proceed- ings of the Foundation's 40th Annual Institute and a recent special institute paper described how the provisions of Form 2 effectively work.3 While this chapter will provide a brief overview of operating agreements generally and a history of Form 2, the in depth analysis and treatment given by prior authors is not repeated. The Pope and Staley article provides a basic overview of unit operating agreements. The focus of this chapter is to provide practical insight into several difficult operational questions that have arisen through the use of Form 2. Unfortunately, the authors are not able to provide an easier or more streamlined method of dealing with the more complicated issues. By its very nature a divided type of unit operating agreement is recognized as being "one of the most complicated agreements in the oil and gas industry."5