The court may render a judgment terminating the lessee's right of entry or occupation of the surface and surface zone, subject to such conditions as the court deems fair and equitable, if the evidence shows each of the following:
§ 772.040.Evidence Required For Judgment Terminating Lessee's Right of Entry Or Occupation
Title 10. Actions In Particular Cases · Chapter 4.5. Special Actions and Proceedings to Clear Title · Article 3. Right of Entry or Occupation of Surface Lands Under Oil or Gas Lease · Enacted 1980 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 772.040 permits judgment terminating a lessee's surface right of entry only if the leasehold document is more than twenty years old, the land isn't presently occupied by a producing or injection well, and termination won't significantly interfere with continued oil production from strata beneath the surface zone.
Full Text of § 772.040
(a) The document that created the leasehold interest was originally executed more than 20 years prior to filing the action under this article regardless of any amendments to the document. However, if any amendment was entered into expressly for the purpose of waiving, limiting, or rearranging surface rights of entry and occupation by the lessee, the 20-year period shall be computed as if the document were originally executed on the date of execution of the amendment.
(b) The subject land is not presently occupied by any of the following:
(1) A producing oil or gas well or well bore.
(2) A well or well bore being utilized for injection of water, gas, or other substance into geologic substrata as an aid to oil or gas production or to ameliorating subsidence.
(3) A well or well bore being utilized for the disposal injection of waste oil well brine and byproducts.
(4) A well or well bore being utilized for the production of water for use in oil field injection, waterflood, and pressure maintenance programs.
(c) Termination of the right of entry or occupation within the subject land in the manner requested by the plaintiff, or subject to such conditions as the court may impose pursuant to this section, will not significantly interfere with the right of the lessee, under the lease, to continue to conduct operations for the continued production of oil from leasehold strata beneath the surface zone in a practical and economic manner, utilizing such production techniques as will be appropriate to the leasehold area, consistent with good oilfield practice, and to gather, transport, and market the oil.
Plain-English Summary
Three showings stand between a plaintiff and a judgment terminating surface rights, and each protects a different interest. First, age: the document creating the leasehold must have been executed more than twenty years before the action was filed, counted from the date of any amendment that specifically waived or rearranged surface rights, so a lessee can't reset the clock with a routine amendment.
Second, current use: the subject land can't presently hold a producing well, an injection well used to aid production or curb subsidence, a well used to dispose of oil-field brine and byproducts, or a well producing water for injection or pressure-maintenance programs. Third, ongoing operations: terminating the right can't significantly interfere with the lessee's ability to keep producing oil from strata beneath the surface zone, using appropriate techniques and good oilfield practice, and to gather, transport, and market it.
Together these conditions let a court free up surface land no longer functionally needed for production, while protecting a lessee still actively extracting oil from below.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old must the lease be before this action can succeed?
The document creating the leasehold interest must have been executed more than twenty years before the action is filed, with the clock reset to the amendment date if any amendment specifically waived or rearranged surface rights.
What current uses of the land block termination?
A producing oil or gas well, an injection well aiding production or subsidence control, a well disposing of oilfield brine and byproducts, or a well producing water for injection or pressure-maintenance programs.
Can termination be denied even if the land isn't presently in use?
Yes, if termination would significantly interfere with the lessee's ability to continue producing oil from strata beneath the surface zone in a practical, economic manner consistent with good oilfield practice.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1980, Ch. 44, Sec. 16.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
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