Oregon Revised Statutes Mineral Resources § 522.055

(1) No person shall engage in drilling a prospect well without first obtaining a permit issued under the authority of the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries and without complying with the conditions of such permit.

(2) An application to drill prospect wells shall contain such information as the department may require, including but not limited to a plugging and decommissioning plan, and shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee in the amount determined by the department to be the estimated cost of review of the proposed prospect wells. Each application may include up to five prospect wells in a given project area. The amount of the fee may not exceed $1,000 per five prospect wells. A permit to drill remains valid until it is revoked or modified by the department based on new information or changed conditions.

(3) The permittee shall provide an annual nonrefundable fee of $500 on or before the anniversary of the issuance date of each active permit.

(4) A request by a permittee to transfer a permit issued under this section shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of $500.

(5) All moneys received by the department under this section shall be paid into the State Treasury and deposited in the General Fund to the credit of the Geology and Mineral Industries Account established by ORS 516.070.