Havre, MontanaHavre Oil Field Accident
Havre Oil Field Accident Lawyers: Gas Well, Oil Rig and Pipeline Injuries Near Havre, Shelby and the Hi-Line
Boland Aarab PLLP.
The Hi-Line’s oil and gas work is older and smaller than the Bakken’s, but it is just as dangerous. It includes shallow gas wells in the Bears Paw country south of Havre, Montana’s oldest major oil field near Shelby, and gas production in Phillips County. If you are hurt, workers’ comp is usually your only claim against your own employer. You can still sue the other companies on the site. Most claims must be filed within 3 years.
Hurt at a well site, rig or pipeline on the Hi-Line, or lost a family member there? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Where is oil and gas work done near Havre?
Tiger Ridge gas field. South of Havre, the Tiger Ridge field produces natural gas from parts of Hill, Chouteau and Blaine Counties, in the country around the Bears Paw Mountains. Work there means servicing wells, compressors and gathering lines on rural roads that can drift shut in winter.
Kevin-Sunburst and the Shelby area. Northwest of Shelby in Toole County, the Kevin-Sunburst field has produced oil since Montana’s first major discovery in 1922. The Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation keeps a field office in Shelby. Old fields mean aging wells, workover and plugging jobs, and equipment that has been repaired many times.
Phillips County. East along US-2 toward Malta, gas production in Phillips County brings the same hazards to the eastern Hi-Line.
Hauling. Water, crude, equipment and pipe move by truck on US-2, US-87, S-232 and county gravel roads. Oilfield trucking has its own federal hours-of-service exceptions (49 C.F.R. § 395.1(d)). Carriers sometimes stretch those exceptions to cover fatigue.
The injuries follow a pattern: blowouts, flash fires and explosions from gas, hydrogen sulfide exposure, pressure releases during servicing, falls from rigs and tanks, crushing by pipe and equipment, and truck rollovers. A Hi-Line winter adds ice on platforms and stairs, frozen lines, and crews working short-handed in the cold.
Who can be held responsible?
On most well sites, several companies are working at once: the operator, the drilling or workover contractor, service companies, a hot-shot or water hauler, equipment manufacturers and maintenance providers. Workers’ comp generally bars a suit against your own employer (§ 39-71-411, MCA). You may sue any other company whose negligence caused the injury (§ 39-71-412, MCA), and a manufacturer can be strictly liable for a defective product (§ 27-1-719, MCA). Master service agreements and indemnity clauses between these companies affect who pays, but they don’t take away your claim.
What happens after an oil field accident near Havre?
Report and document. Report the injury to your employer in writing within 30 days (§ 39-71-603, MCA). Write down the names of every company on location and every piece of equipment involved. Take photos if you can. Well sites are cleaned up and equipment is sent back to vendors quickly.
Medical care. Remote well sites mean a long ambulance or air transport. Northern Montana Hospital in Havre is not a designated trauma facility, while Logan Health–Shelby and Logan Health Chester are Trauma Receiving Facilities. Serious burns and trauma usually mean transfer to Benefis in Great Falls, an ACS Level 2 center, or farther (DPHHS, Nov. 2025).
Agencies. Federal OSHA covers most private oil and gas employers in Montana, because the state has no OSHA State Plan. Most drilling and servicing work falls under the general industry standards (29 C.F.R. part 1910; OSHA interpretation, 2009). Blowouts, spills and well-control problems may also be reported to the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation.
Courts. Where the case is filed depends on where the injury happened. The Twelfth Judicial District sits in Havre for Hill County, and it also serves Liberty and Chouteau Counties. The Ninth District serves Toole County, and the Seventeenth serves Phillips and Blaine (§ 3-5-101, MCA). Out-of-state oil and service companies often move cases to the federal Great Falls Division, which covers all of these counties (D. Mont. L.R. 1.2(c)(3)).
Montana law that applies
For the full picture, see our Montana oil field and oil rig accident lawyer page. The short version:
- There are 3 years to file most injury and wrongful-death claims (§ 27-2-204, MCA).
- The workers’ comp insurer’s lien on a third-party recovery has limits that protect the worker (§ 39-71-414, MCA).
- Fault is compared among everyone responsible (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Havre case?
Great Falls is the hub for north-central Montana. It is where the federal court for the Hi-Line sits, and where many injured workers are treated. We are based there, we handle cases statewide, and we travel to Havre, Shelby, Malta and well sites for inspections, depositions, hearings and trial. We do not have a Havre office.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We take on large companies in federal court. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years, and Samir Aarab has argued twice before the Ninth Circuit.
- We try cases. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom. The firm has tried cases in Phillips County on the Hi-Line, as well as in Cascade, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties.
- We protect verdicts. We had a Phillips County jury’s verdict reinstated by the Montana Supreme Court (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- We belong to the trial bar. Both attorneys are AAJ and MTLA members.
Related Havre pages: burn injuries · truck accidents · all Havre and Hi-Line injury cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
I was hurt at a gas well south of Havre. Who can I sue? Usually not your own employer, because workers’ comp covers that relationship. But you can sue the operator, another contractor or an equipment maker if their negligence or defective product caused the injury.
Which court hears an oil field case from the Shelby area? A case from Toole County is filed in the Ninth Judicial District Court in state court. If an out-of-state company is sued, it may be moved to the federal court in Great Falls.
Is a hot-shot or water hauler held to trucking safety rules? Generally, yes. The federal motor carrier rules apply, with special hours-of-service exceptions for oilfield operations. Those exceptions have limits, and fatigue is still negligence.
What if a master service agreement says the operator isn’t responsible? Those agreements usually decide which companies reimburse each other. They generally cannot take away an injured worker’s claim against a negligent company that did not employ them.
How soon should I call a lawyer? As soon as you can. Equipment is returned, repaired or scrapped quickly, and well-site records change hands. The 3-year deadline is a legal limit, not a guide to how long the evidence will last.
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
