Utah individual well operator bonds.
From $125.
Before the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining permits you to drill, re-enter or take over a well on fee or privately owned minerals, you furnish a bond under Utah Admin. Code R649-3-1, sized by depth: from $1,500 under 1,000 feet to $60,000 beyond 10,000 feet. Pricing is 5% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $125 minimum.
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How much does a Utah individual well operator 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. One sitting.
One well, one bond, one sitting. Have the well name, API number and legal description handy — the application asks for all of them:
Apply online
Well name, API number, section, township, range and county, plus operator details, the bond amount for your depth band, a term, an effective date, and the mailing address for the wet-ink original. The credit consent authorizes a soft inquiry only.
Pay & e-sign
The premium is 5% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee with a $125 minimum, priced at checkout, so the bond issues the moment you pay. Your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
File with the division
The division takes the bond on Form 4 for fee and private-mineral wells, and it needs to be in hand before your permit to drill or change of operator is approved. The original goes to the address you give us.
What it is and who needs it.
What the individual well bond guarantees
The obligation is plugging and reclamation. Utah Code 40-6-5(2)(f) directs the Board of Oil, Gas and Mining to require a reasonable performance bond conditioned on the duty to plug each dry or abandoned well, repair each well causing waste or pollution, maintain and restore the well site, and protect the surface owner against unreasonable crop loss, loss of value in existing improvements, and permanent damage to surface land. R649-3-1 makes that bond a precondition of the permit itself, not a follow-up filing.
Amounts are keyed to depth because deeper holes cost more to kill: at least $1,500 for a well of less than 1,000 feet, $15,000 from 1,000 to 3,000 feet, $30,000 from 3,000 to 10,000 feet, and $60,000 beyond 10,000 feet, for each such well on fee or privately owned minerals. If the division reviews your application to drill, re-enter, or change operator and concludes the standard amount will not cover plugging and site restoration, it may require a change in the form or amount — with written findings and a schedule, appealable under R649-10.
Bond liability runs for the duration of drilling, operating and plugging the well and restoring the site, and stays in full force until the division releases it. Release follows a defined sequence: notice that the well has been plugged, landowner affidavits confirming restoration, published newspaper notice, and a 15-day window for written objections. Separately, a well found in violation of the shut-in and temporarily abandoned rule can be re-bonded at actual plugging and site restoration cost — the operator submits an estimate within 30 days and posts within 120 days of approval.
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
File with the division. The division takes the bond on Form 4 for fee and private-mineral wells, and it needs to be in hand before your permit to drill or change of operator is approved. The original goes to the address you give us.
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 at checkout.
These are the actual issuing fields — including the well name, API number and legal description the division needs on Form 4. The credit consent authorizes a soft inquiry only.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Utah bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Bond the well before the permit lands.
Enter your depth-band amount, see the exact price, and get the original to the division. Free until issued.
