Kentucky blanket well plugging bonds.
From $125.
Before you drill or acquire an oil or gas well in Kentucky, the Division of Oil and Gas requires a plugging bond. A blanket bond covers all your wells under a single instrument instead of one per well. Premiums are 5% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $125 minimum, confirmed with a soft credit check — enter the amount the Division set.
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How much does a Kentucky blanket well plugging bond cost?
5% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, from $125. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps to bonded.
Your permit is waiting on this bond. Here's the entire process — no broker phone tag:
Apply once, online
Business details, your years in business, the blanket bond amount, and an effective date — plus a one-time consent to a soft credit check.
Approved
Most are approved as soon as you apply. The credit check is a soft pull that never affects your score — never a hard inquiry. If it needs a second look, one to two business days at most.
E-sign & file with the Division of Oil and Gas
Pay online and receive the executed blanket bond ready to file with the Division. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the state insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the blanket plugging bond covers
Kentucky's Division of Oil and Gas (in the Department for Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Cabinet) requires a performance bond on file before an oil or gas well is drilled or acquired from another operator. The bond guarantees the proper plugging and abandonment of wells and the filing of well records with the Division.
A blanket bond covers all of an operator's wells under a single instrument, rather than posting a separate bond for each well — the practical choice once you operate more than a handful. The bond stays in effect until each well is properly plugged (and any reclamation plan satisfied) or successfully transferred to another operator.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Forfeited bond funds go to the state's oil and gas well plugging fund, which the Division uses to plug abandoned wells. Enter the amount the Division set; premiums start at $125 and pricing runs through a single soft credit check that never affects your score.
You need this bond if you're
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
E-sign & file with the Division of Oil and Gas. Pay online and receive the executed blanket bond ready to file with the Division. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the state insists.
What sets the price
The premium is 5% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $125 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual underwriting fields, including a one-time consent to a soft credit check. Submit once and your blanket bond is issued when you pay.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Kentucky bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
The Division of Oil and Gas is waiting on one document.
From $125, short application, bond issued when you pay. Free until issued.