82-11-212. Property rights and operator’s lien. That portion of the unit production allocated to any tract and the proceeds from the sale of that production must be the property and income of the persons to whom or to whose credit the proceeds are allocated or payable under the order providing for unit operations, except that the operator of the unit shall, subject to 82-11-206(5)(a), have a first and prior lien upon each owner‘s oil and gas rights and the owner’s share of unitized production to secure the payment of that owner’s proportionate part of developing and operating the unit area. The lien may be perfected and enforced in the same manner as provided in Title 71, chapter 3, part 5. Upon demand by any owner of working interest in any tract to which gas has been allocated, the unit operator shall deliver the allocated share of gas to the owner in kind. However, the operator and the other owners of interest may not be required to bear the cost of providing additional facilities for the delivery of the gas.

Terms Used In Montana Code 82-11-212

  • Gas: means all natural gases and all other fluid hydrocarbons, including methane gas or any other natural gas found in any coal formation, as produced at the wellhead and not defined as oil in subsection (3). See Montana Code 82-1-111
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Oil: means crude petroleum oil and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the wellhead in liquid form by ordinary production methods and that are not the result of condensation of gas before or after it leaves the reservoir. See Montana Code 82-1-111
  • Owner: means the person who has the right to drill into and produce from a pool and to appropriate the oil or gas the person produces from a pool either for the person or others or for the person and others, and the term includes all persons holding that authority by or through the person with the right to drill. See Montana Code 82-11-101
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205