Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 71. MORTGAGES, PLEDGES, AND LIENS

CHAPTER 3. LIENS

Part 10. Labor and Material Liens on Oil and Gas Wells and Pipelines

Lien For Labor And Materials Furnished For Use On Leasehold For Oil And Gas Purposes Or Pipelines -- Exceptions

71-3-1002. Lien for labor and materials furnished for use on leasehold for oil and gas purposes or pipelines -- exceptions. (1) Any person, corporation, or partnership that under expressed or implied contract with the owner of any leasehold for oil and gas purposes or the owner of any gas pipe or oil pipeline or with the trustee or agent of the owner performs labor or furnishes material or services used in the digging, drilling, torpedoing, completing, operating, or repairing of any oil or gas well or oil or gas pipeline or who furnishes any material or services or performs any labor in constructing or putting together any of the machinery used in digging, drilling, torpedoing, operating, completing, or repairing any oil or gas well or oil or gas pipeline, whether or not the material is incorporated into or becomes a part of the oil or gas well or oil or gas pipeline, may have a lien for the amount due, including associated transportation and mileage charges and interest from the date the amount was due, upon:

(a) the whole of the leasehold or oil or gas pipeline;

(b) the appurtenances on the leasehold or oil or gas pipeline;

(c) all material owned by the owner of the leasehold or oil or gas pipeline and used in the digging, drilling, torpedoing, completing, operating, or repairing of the oil or gas well or oil or gas pipeline;

(d) all oil or gas wells located on the leasehold; and

(e) all oil or gas produced from the leasehold, subject to the provisions of Title 71, chapter 3, part 16.

(2) If labor is performed for, or materials or services are furnished to, the owner of the working interest in only a portion of the acreage covered by a lease, the lien granted under subsection (1) must be restricted to the portion of the acreage that is covered by the lease.

(3) A lien granted under subsection (1) does not extend to any royalty interests, overriding royalty interests, or oil payments created prior to the date the first item of material or services are furnished or the date the first labor is performed.

History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 45, L. 1917; re-en. Sec. 8375, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 152, L. 1923; re-en. Sec. 8375, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 143, L. 1957; R.C.M. 1947, 45-1001; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 367, L. 2009.