Montana Historical Society
Archives
RS 442_RS 496
Montana. Department of Natural
Resources and Conservation.
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation,
Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation records
1915-2003
8 linear feet
This collection is a subgroup
(Board) of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation records, RS
496. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of
Natural Resources and Conservation records. These records of the Montana Board of
Oil and Gas Conservation are comprised of correspondence, court papers, printed material,
reports, and subject files.
43:4-5
English
"Helping to ensure that Montana's land and water resources provide benefits for present and
future generations" is the mission of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and
Conservation (DNRC). First established in 1971 as a result of the Executive Reorganization
Act of 1971, the DNRC provides leadership in managing the state's natural resources. It is
presently responsible for promoting the stewardship of Montana's water, soil, forest, and
rangeland resources; for regulating forest practices and oil and gas exploration and
production.
The MBOGC is a quasi-judicial body that is attached to the DNRC for administrative purposes
only. It maintains its principle office in Billings and has an administrative office in
Helena and a field office in Shelby. Board Field inpectors work from their homes at several
locations throughout the oil producing areas of Eastern Montana.
All members are appointed to four-year terms by the governor - four (the majority) when he
or she takes office; the others, two years later. The board's regulatory action serve three
primary purposes: (1) to prevent waste of oil and gas resources, (2) to conserve oil and gas
by encouraging maximum efficient recovery of the resource, and (3) to protect the
correlative rights of the mineral owners, i.e., the right of each owner to recover its fair
share of the oil and gas underlying its lands. The board also seeks to prevent oil and gas
operations from harming nearby land or underground resources. It accomplishes these goals by
establishing spacing units, issuing drilling permits, administering bonds (required to
guarantee the eventual proper plugging of wells and restoration of the surface), classifying
wells, and adopting rules. MBOGC also repairs old, abandoned, problem wells. It maintains a
library of well cutting samples and core samples in Billings. Since 1993, the board has
performed the certification required for companies to receive tax incentives available for
horizontal wells and enhanced recovery projects. The MBOGC has primary regulatory
jurisdiction over the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program for Class II injection or
disposal wells. The purpose of this program is to protect underground sources of drinking
water (USDWs). The board's jurisdiction applies statewide to all but Indian lands.
This collection is composed of correspondence (1934-1947); court papers (1962-2004);
printed material (1981-1986); reports (1926-1951); and subject files (1921-1953).
This collection is arranged by series.
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Library & Archives
and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written
permission must be obtained from the Library & Archives before any reproduction use. The
Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In
some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the
copyright owners.
In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and
Conservation were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 496, in order to help
facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival
practices.
Collections from Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's various
Divisions and Bureaus that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated
into this collection, RS 496. Rather than reprocessing over 280
linear feet of DNRC materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those
collections/finding aids, and provide access to them via links through the central finding
aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over
the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding
aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if
this subgroup/sub-subgroup pertains to your research needs.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers.
Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society
Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places
should search under these terms.
Geological surveys
Oil--production
Oil well drilling
Petroleum reserves
Petroleum conservation--Montana
Montana
Detailed Description of the Collection
Correspondence
1 / 1
Board of Railroad Commissioners [re: Weekly oil and
gas reports]
1947
1 / 2
State Agencies--Attorney General
1934-1942
1 / 3
State Agencies--Department of Agriculture, Labor and
Industry
1937-1938
1 / 4
State Agencies--Secretary of State
1934-1939
1 / 5
State Agencies--State Auditor
1936-1947
1 / 6
State Agencies--State Board of
Equilization
1934-1946
1 / 7-8
State Agencies--State Board of Examiners and
Governor
1936-1946
1 / 9
State Agencies--State Board of Land
Commissioners
1934-1946
1 / 10
State Agencies--State Board of Railroad
Commissioners
1934-1942
1 / 11
State Agencies--State Bureau of Mines and
Geology
1936-1945
1 / 12
State Agencies--State Treasurer
1934-1938
1 / 13
State Agencies--State University
(Missoula)
1943-1946
1 / 14-19
Miscellaneous, A-Z
1942-1945
Court Papers
1 / 20
"Transcript of Report to Governor's Committee on
Economic Studies by Petroleum Industry"
1962
2 / 1-7
Notices of Public Hearings
1964-2004
2 / 8-11
Orders, #28-67 through 105-A-79
1967-1979
3 / 1-16
Orders #25-76 through 121-2004
1976-2004
Printed Material
4 / 1
Montana Oil and Gas Statistical Bulletin
1981-1986
Reports
4 / 2-10
Board of Railroad Commissioners, Oil and Gas Division
[weekly reports]
1947-1951
4 / 11
Geological Reports--Montana Areas
1939-1944
4 / 12
Geological and Well Data
1926-1939
4 / 13
List of Well Logs
1942
4 / 14
Montana Oil and Gas Wells
1940
4 / 15
Reports on Wells Acidized in Montana
1946
4 / 16
"Statement of Crude Oil Production, Refining, Storage,
etc. in Montana"
1945
4 / 17
"Sundry Notices and Reports of Wells" [Dept. of the
Interior]
1946-1947
4 / 17a
"Net Proceeds of Mine Returns, State Board of
Equalization"
1936
Subject Files
4/18-19
Bills and Legislation
1935-1939, 1945
4/20
Legislative Committee Hearing [“Investigation Of Oil
Conservation Board”]
1939
4/21
Legislative – Governor’s Committee on Reorganization
and Economy
1941
4/22
OPC-OPA, Crude Oil Price Ceilings and
Prices
1942
4/23
Oil and Gas – Crude Analysis [Field and well
Pressure]
1921-1932
4/24
Oil and Gas Leasing Laws [committee
hearings]
1945
4/25
Oil Prices at Wells (Montana and the U.S.)
1932-1945
5/1
Oil Production and Well-drilling Data
1945
5/2
Oil Production Compilations (Montana Fields only)
1939-1945
5/3
Oil Conservation Board (OCB)
1937
5/4
OCB, “Complaints and Investigations”
1939-1941
5/5-6
OCB, “Forms, Regulations, Circulars,
Resolutions”
1934-1941
5/7
OCB, “Investigations of Oil Production, Markets, Field
Practices, etc.”
1934-1937
5/8-11
OCB, “Investigations and Hearings”
1937-1938
5/12
OCB, Legislative [HB 58]
1933-1934
5/13
OCB, Miscellany
1937-1939
5/14-16
OCB, “Miscellaneous Reports, Correspondence”
1934-1941
5/17
OCB, “Publications, Notices, etc.”
1934-1935
6/1
“A Conference with Representatives of the Petroleum
Industry”
1941
6/2
Estimated Daily Oil Production
1938
6/3
“Gasoline and Other Refined Products – US and
Montana”
1943
6/4
Gasoline Rationing
1942-1949
6/5
Oil Production Forecasts
1937-1945
6/6
“Oil Production, Transportation, Storage and
Well-drilling Stats”
1939
6/7-8
Oil Reserves [includes report on Montana
reserves]
1942-1945
6/9
Oil Storage Statistics
1938
6/10
“Petroleum Administration in War” (PAW)
1943-1944
6/11
Refiners and Refineries – Crude Oil
[production]
1941-1946
6/12-13
Refiners, Dealers, and Marketers – Crude Oil Products
[prices, investigations, etc.]
1934-1944
6/14
“Wells – Oil and Gas Statistical”
1940-1941
6/15-17
Refiners, Dealers, and Marketers – Gasoline and Crude
Oil Products
1944-1947
6/18
Rubber Salvage Campaign
1942
6/19-20
Salvage Campaigns in Montana (War Production
Board)
1942
6/21
U.S. Indian Office and Officials
1936-1939
6/22
“U.S. Oil Control Proposals, Agitations,
etc.”
1939
6/23
U.S. Petroleum Coordinator
1942
6/24
U.S. Petroleum Coordinator for National
Defense
1941
6/25
U.S. Petroleum Coordinator for War
1941-1946
6/26
U.S. Petroleum Conservation Act of 1939 [HR
7372]
1939
6/27
WPA – Montana Bureau of Mines and Oil Conservation
Board
1942-1943
7/1-5
Code Administration/Orders [Petroleum Administrators,
Marketers, Refiners]
1933-1935
7/6
“Cole Bill” [HR 7372]
1939-1940
7/7
“Geological and Geophysical Methods [Soil Analysis,
Electric, Doodlebugs]”
circa 1945
7/8
Interstate Oil Compact
1935
7/9
Miscellaneous
1926-1953
7/10
OPA/WPA/PAW, “Materials Prices, Priorities,
Well-casing, Operating Supplies, etc.”
1943
7/11
OPC, National Conference of Petroleum Regulatory
Authorities
1942
7/12
“Oil Price Ceilings – Price Subsidies”
1943
7/13
PAW, Washington D.C. Headquarters
1943
7/14
PAW, Montana Division
1945
7/15
“Refiners, Dealers, and Marketers – Crude Oil
Products”
1945
7/16
Refinery Board of Review, Washington D.C. [Discussions
of appeals]
1934-1935
7/17
“Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association” [SB 1772, HR
5330]
1935
7/18
Shell Oil Company petition to Board of Land
Commissioners
1957
7/19
State Bureau of Mines and Geology
1941
7/20
State of Montana Legislative Assembly
1941, 1943
7/21
“Statement of Crude Oil Product and Refined in
Montana” [by field and discovery date]
1915-1939
8/1
Underground Gas Storage Study
circa 1953
8/2
U.S. Department, Indian Lands (Oil and Gas Lease
Sales)
1932-1937
8/3
U.S. Department of Commerce
1940
8/4
U.S. – Federal Petroleum Act” [SB 3495,
2027]
1934-1935
8/5
U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Mines
1938-1940
8/6-12
U.S. Legislation [includes Connally Law]
1934-1940
8/13
U.S. National Resources Committee
1939
8/14
U.S. Permit and Lease Legislation [HR 5530, 7573; SB
2398, 2629]
1935
8/15
U.S. Petroleum Conservation Division of the
Interior
1936-1940
8/16
U.S. Petroleum Coordinator
1942
8/17
U.S. Petroleum Coordinator’s Region 4 Montana
Committees
1942
8/18
U.S. Public Lands
1938-1939
8/19
U.S. Senate Special Committee on National Oil
Policy
1945
8/20
Well Abandonment and Plugging Summaries
1939-1945
8/21
Wells – Locations by Townships [Depths, Results,
Status, etc.]
1944
8/22
Wells – Oil-producing
1943
8/23
Well-drilling and Completion Records
1943-1945
8/24
Well-drilling Contractors and Rig
Operators
1943-1945
8/25
Well-drilling forecasts
1943-1944
8/26
Well-drilling records – summaries
1943-1946
8/27
Well Spacing Rules
1958
8/28
Well Records, Kevin-Sunburst area
1940