Preserving and perfecting lien claims against Ohio oil and gas wells

posted by Michael Fortney  |  Oct 22, 2012 1:44 PM in Construction Law

The Ohio legislature has adopted a mechanics' lien law specifically for labor, work, or materials performed on oil and gas wells and facilities.  The law states that "Every person who performs any labor or work upon or furnishes material for digging, drilling, boring, operating, completing, or repairing, any well drilled or constructed for the production of oil and gas or any injection well which furthers the production of oil and gas . . . has a lien to secure the payment thereof."

An oil and gas lien affidavit follows the same requirements as those for traditional mechanics' liens, with several notable differences.  First, an oil and gas well lien claimant is not required to serve a Notice of Furnishing to preserve lien rights.  Second, the oil and gas well lien claimant is not required to identify the first date that labor, work, or material was furnished to the improvement.  Third, the an oil and gas well lien claimant has 120-days from the last supply of labor, work, or materials to record a lien.  The recording and service requirements remain the same as those for traditional mechanics' liens.

Once perfected, the lien attaches to:  1) the oil and gas lease or leasehold estate or, in the absence of a lease, to the mineral estate, 2) the oil or gas produced from the property and the oil and gas proceeds, and 3) upon all material located at the well site or used in connection thereof. 

In addition to these lien rights, an unpaid oil and gas well claimant may serve the well owner or lessee  with a statutory notice of amounts due from an original contractor.  The service of a notice of amount due gives the owner/lessee the right to issue payment by a joint check or to require the original contractor to obtain lien waivers prior to making payment to the original contractor.  The statutory notice must contain the following information:

            (a)       a description of the nature of the work performed, 

(b)       a description of the materials furnished, 

(c)       statement of amount due, 

(d)       the identity of the person the claimant contracted with, 

(e)       the identity of the well, 

(f)        the permit number, and 

(g)       the county where such work or materials was performed. 

This statutory notice of amounts due may also be served prior to the performance of work or the supply of materials much in the same fashion as a Notice of Furnishing.  While no Notice of Furnishing and no statutory notice of amounts due are required by law, the oil and gas well lien law does afford an owner or lessee a defense in the event that the improvement contract is paid in full prior to the receipt of notice of an amount due a lien claimant or perspective lien claimant. 


Revision History

Most Recent Articles

Ohio Court of Appeals Clarifies Time for Serving Notice of Furnishing under Mechanic's Lien Law In a case litigated by Michael L. and Michael R. Fortney of Stark & Knoll, the Court of Appeals for Ohio’s Ni ...
NLRB Declares Chipotle Company Policies Unlawful An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued her ruling in the Chipotle case ...
Ohio Court of Appeals Upholds Arbitrator’s Authority When Arguably Construing or Applying Contract A recent ruling by the Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled that a trial court cannot vacate an arbitration award beca ...
Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Liquidated Damages Provisions in Construction Contracts The Ohio Supreme Court overturned the Fourth District Court of Appeals' holding that a $700 per day liquidated dama ...
2nd Circuit Agrees with NLRB; Facebook "like"s are Protected Activity In 2014 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its ruling in  Triple Play Sports Bar . It decided that&n ...