Access Problems and Remedies For Oil and Gas Operators

Oil is where you find it, and that is at the end of a rainbownot a paved public street. Yet exploration for, and development of, oil and gas are impossible without rights of access. Mining properties1 are unique as concerns rights-of-way problems. Ordinarily, industrial property is acquired with high regard for location and accessibilitya luxury unavailable to the oil and gas operator. The operator often gives little, if any, consideration to questions of accessibility at the time of acquisition. Concern over access problems is frequently deferred until initial work is begun. All too often an operator's elation at the discovery of valuable minerals is dampened by interference with access.

This article will update the discussion of individual access problems,2 pulling together the more common [812] questions concerning right-of-way problems into a current compendium article.