Whenever any land in this state may hereafter be, or shall have heretofore been, devised by will or conveyed by grant to any person by any language which at common law would have vested in that person an estate in fee tail, then the person who at common law would have been invested with a fee tail estate in the lands and who under the provisions of § 18-12-301 is or shall be invested with a life estate therein is authorized and empowered to execute oil and gas leases on the land, in the manner set out in this subchapter.