ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. v. State, Department of Natural Resources

OPINION

BRYNER, Chief Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., Exxon Mobil Corporation, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., and Forest Oil Corporation (the corporations) applied to reduce the rate of lease royalties they owed the State of Alaska under a state lease initially executed in 1965. They claimed that they were entitled to a “discovery royalty” rate because they were the first producers to discover oil in a new geologic structure, the Midnight Sun Reservoir. The Commissioner of Natural Resources denied the application, finding that the Midnight Sun Reservoir belonged to a…