Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-373

Opinion No. 373 State Board of Land Commissioners- Statutes-Oil and Gas Leases -Termination--State Lands. HELD: When the state board of land commissioners extends from year to year the time for the commencement or completion of drilling on land held under an oil and gas lease from the state, such extension may be termin- ated at the end of any year by the state. Septemher 27, 11)33 You inquire as to the interpretation of section 2, Chapter 171 of the H)3::: Session Laws, and submit your inter- pretation of the same together with the interpretation by counsel who dif- fers with you. The particular sen- tence to be construed reads as follows: "The Board may, in its discretion, upon satisfactory showing by the les- see, extend the time for the commence- ment or completion of such drilling oh- ligation from year to year, not exceed- ing ten (10) years from and after the date of the lease, upon such terms amI considerations as the Board may de- termine, and upon the payment to the Commissioner of State Lands and IIl- yestments of such penalty, if any, as the Board in its discretion may deter- mine, for each year beginning "ith the third year, payable each year in ad- "ance." The law authorizes the wah'er of drilling obligations on satisfactory showing from year to year, not ex- ceeding ten years. The constructioll of this statute depends upon what is meant by the term 'year to year'. This term is principally used in connection with the relation of landlord and ten- ant. Standing alone the term may be somewhat ambiguous. A tenancy from year to year is an enlargement of a tenancy at will and originated to en- able a tenant to han-est a crop planted by him. The more recent constructions of this term and tenancy are commingled with interpretations of statutes. The term is only gi"en an exact interpretation in the older common law decisions. In these the term has a certain definite meaning and certain definite charac- teristics. "Tenancy from Year to Year. The right of either party to determine such a tenancy at the end of any year by due notice is an inseparable inci- dent to the tenancy." Gear, Landlord and Tenant. 29. To the same effect, Taylor, Landlord and Tenant, 55, Note 1; Wood, Landlord and Tenant, 33: 5 Bacon Abridgement 612; Woodfall, Landlord and Tenant, 219; 3 Preston on Conveyancing, 76 and 77. From these authorities it appears that the term "From year to year" means that at the close of any year either the landlord or the tenant might terminate the tenancy on notice. I would conclude that the term is used in a similar sense in this statute and tha t therefore the extension on stipu- lated conditions may he terminated at the end of any year by the state.