Sec. 61704.

(1) Upon the filing of a petition as provided in section 61703, the petitioner shall give notice to interested persons as set forth in section 61727. A person protesting the petition shall have 15 days after the completion of the publication of notice as provided in section 61726 to provide the supervisor with written notice of protest and the reason or reasons for the protest.

(2) The notice to interested persons required by subsection (1) shall set forth the procedure required to file a protest and the name, address, and phone number of a representative of the petitioner who is available to discuss the petition, and shall state that the supervisor may issue an order approving the petition without a hearing if no protests are received in the time period provided in subsection (1). The notice to all mineral owners who have not approved the plan of unitization shall include a copy of the petition provided for in section 61703, except that the petitioner may omit from the notice those parts of the petition referred to in section 61703(b) and (e).

(3) If no protests are filed, the supervisor may issue an order as provided in subsection (4) without holding a hearing.

(4) The supervisor shall issue an order providing for the unit operation of a unit area if he or she finds all of the following:

(a) That the unitization requested is reasonably necessary to substantially increase the ultimate recovery of oil and gas from the unit area.

(b) That the type of operations contemplated by the plan are feasible, will prevent waste, and will protect correlative rights.

(c) That the estimated additional cost of conducting such operations will not exceed the value of the additional oil and gas so recovered.

History: Add. 1995, Act 57, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1995 Popular Name: Act 451Popular Name: NREPA