Alena Ogg, Western Montana Regional Manager

Montana Farm Bureau Federation, along with the Montana Stockgrowers, the Montana Petroleum Association, and Montana Grain Growers, hosted an oil and gas leasing seminar this past week in Great Falls. After Stephen Brown of Garlington, Lohn & Robinson PLLP spoke on the intricacies and legal jargon of oil and gas leases, I was left with two thoughts:

1)      Landowners need to ensure that they fully understand what they are signing and what rights they are relinquishing in these agreements.

2)      I wish I was a said landowner, because although these leases can be daunting and complicated, the landowner definitely can benefit!

About 70 people attended the two hour seminar, including some of our active members, Edie and Bill Wright and Bill and Candy Richter. Several attendees were impressed with the amount of information that the seminar provided and especially appreciated the time Mr. Brown took to answer questions. Several issues such as scenarios where there are several mineral owners but only one surface owner, or how long a landowner should carry the lease were brought up and discussed.

Overall, it was certainly an informative afternoon, as this is quickly becoming the hot topic in North Central Montana.