§7. Orders fixing allowable productions; hearing to determine initial schedules; old fields, hearing unnecessary, summary hearing

A. An order fixing allowable production of oil or gas or making changes therein for any month or other period shall be issued by the commissioner on or before the twenty-third day of the month preceding the month for which the order is to be effective and it shall be promulgated by immediate publication in the official journal of the state.

B.(1) In the case of old fields or pools for which schedules of allowables had been previously issued, it shall not be necessary for the commissioner to have a hearing prior to the issuance of any subsequent order fixing or changing the schedule of allowables unless there is a written request for a hearing by an interested person. This provision permitting the issuance of a schedule of allowables for old fields without a hearing is an exception to the general rule requiring notice and hearing prior to the issuance of an order by the commissioner.

(2) In the event a schedule of allowables is promulgated without previous notice and hearing, an aggrieved producer of oil or gas may file with the commissioner at his office within seventy-two hours from the publication of the order, a sworn written statement, giving in detail the grounds of his complaint. Thereupon, the commissioner shall hold a hearing within forty-eight hours. At this hearing, oral or documentary evidence may be received by the commissioner in favor of and against the complaint. After the hearing, the commissioner shall summarily render a decision. If his decision is not made on or before the effective date of the order complained of, that order shall be suspended until a decision is rendered. During this period, the former order shall remain in force. This provision permitting a summary hearing shall be restricted to cases involving a complaint made against a schedule of allowables under the circumstances set forth in this Subsection B(2).