Board of trustees may lease, sell, etc., bottoms of bays, lagoons, straits, etc., owned by state, for petroleum purposes.
F.S. 253.47
in effectThe Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the state may lease for royalties or for other agreed compensation, or sell and otherwise dispose of the right to drill wells for the discovery and the production of petroleum and natural gas in the bottoms, owned by the state in its sovereign capacity, of the bays, lagoons, straits, sounds, gulf, streams and lakes within the state; provided, that such leases or sales shall not confer upon the person acquiring the same the right to enter upon any private property of another, nor the right to drill any well or otherwise place permanent or stationary obstruction in such waters or upon such bottoms within one-quarter of 1 mile of the shoreline of the lands of any upland owner, without first having the written consent of such upland owner so to do. The leases and sales so made shall convey to the lessee or vendee the rights of ingress and egress to, from, and over the bottoms leased or acquired, and the right to construct and maintain on and over such leased or acquired bottoms, in such manner as not to obstruct transportation, any structures, tanks, docks, stations and other equipment, as may be required for the proper development of such leases and the purposes for which the same are made.
Source: FL Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/Chapter253/AllFetched: 7/8/2026