Montana Oil And Mining Journal

Administration Program
For Control Of Industry

The measures of federal control that the oil industry must combat, are outlined by the "National Resources Committee" report recently prepared for the president. The committee proposed:

The federal Government has power to regulate the oil and gas industries under the interstate commerce and national defense clause of the Constitution.

A federal oil conservation board should be erected with power to establish minimum standards for the production of oil moving into interstate commerce.

The Connally "hot oil" law should be extended until such time as permanent federal legislation can be enacted.

More rigorous state oil conservation laws should be enacted, to be coordinated with federal regulation.

State legislation should terminate the law of capture and substitute the law of ownership in place and require unit operation of all oil pools.

There should be no tariff duty or import tax on petroleum products.

Naval oil reserves should be consolidated and resurveyed,

The federal Government should assert ownership of submerged oil and gas reserves underlying all coastal waters.