Montana oil & gas well bonds.
From $100.
Before the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation issues a drilling permit, it requires a surety bond conditioned on plugging your well and reclaiming the site. The amount is set by well depth for a single well, or you can blanket-bond every well you operate. Premiums run 5% of the bond amount, with a $100 minimum, and your exact price appears at the application.
Trusted by industry leaders
How much does a Montana oil & gas well bond cost?
5% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps to a bonded permit.
Your drilling or operating permit is waiting on this bond. Here is the whole process — no broker phone tag:
Apply online
Operator details, the bond amount the Board requires, and an effective date — plus a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. That is the application.
Approved
Most are approved as soon as you apply. The soft credit pull never affects your score. If it needs a second look, one to two business days at most.
E-sign & file (Form 3)
Pay online and receive the executed bond on the Board’s Form 3, ready to file with your permit application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Board insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the well bond actually guarantees
Montana regulates oil and gas operations through the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation under MCA Title 82, Chapter 11. Before drilling, the operator must post a surety bond conditioned on plugging the well and reclaiming the surface when production ends — so the state is never left holding the cleanup cost on an abandoned well.
The amount is graduated by single-well depth: roughly $1,500 for a well 2,000 feet or shallower, $5,000 for 2,001–3,500 feet, and $10,000 for wells deeper than 3,500 feet. Operators with multiple wells generally post a $50,000 blanket bond covering all of them, and the Board can require a larger amount when it finds one warranted.
It is a three-party guarantee — you (the principal), the surety, and the State of Montana (the obligee). If you fail to plug or reclaim and the state has to, it can recover against the bond, and you repay the surety. We confirm the exact amount on your permit; premiums start from $100 and your exact price is set at application.
You need this bond if you are
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 (Form 3). Pay online and receive the executed bond on the Board’s Form 3, ready to file with your permit application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Board insists.
What sets the price
The premium is 5% of the bond amount, $100 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 pull. Submit once and your bond is issued when you pay.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Montana bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
The Board is waiting on one document.
Premiums from $100, bond issued when you pay. Free until issued.