I was wondering if anyone could help guide me in the right direction to be able to undo a mis-handled transferring of oil property. Recently, my trustee informed me that one of my Occidental Oil & Gas royalty owner accounts was sold to Pennzoil Exploration & Production company awhile back. Problem is my trustee did not authorize this sale and neither did I; so, it was done illegaly! I am the only beneficiary for this trust account and my trustee does not think this illegal transfer can be undone. Could anyone offer me some advice on how to recover stolen mineral interests? I would appreciate any assistence, thank you in advance.
I would think that if the statute of limitations had not yet run that you can get your mineral interest back, after all, an unauthorized third party can not sell your mineral interests any more than I could sell my neighbors house. If I were you I would be contacting law enforcement. This is my take from the information you have given so far.
It looks like there are two things going on here. Both a criminal and a civil issue.
The criminal issue would be fraud, forgery, or embezzlement by bailee (or trustee).
The civil issue would be restoring your ownership and recovering the lost income.
The statute of limitations may not be the same for each and one could apply without the other. Also some laws start the Statute of Limitations clock from the time of discovery.
See an attorney in your state for advice as soon as possible. State laws will vary greatly.
Make sure it is not one producer selling a lease to another, which is allowed. If your trustee allowed or refused to pursue an illiegal sale of the trust assets, then you do need to see an attorney.
I think Wade C. has the answer. A well was sold in which you have an interest. Your trustee was "noticed" about he sale. The Trustee needs to follow up on the payment of your royalty from Penzoil. When I managed the mineral estate of the Trustee of the Rock Island Railroad in OK and TX, it was a constant battle to keep sales straight. We had hundreds of parcels to look after.
I would bet this was Occi selling their project or royalties or operations or a portion thereof. This is completely legal, happens quite frequently and very easy to overcome. Lots of time it is a good thing because a new operator has the fire to go drill some more wells or up production on existing wells through reworking, cleaning up etc… There is no way Occi could sell your assets unless whoever let the original lease also sold the minerals and/or surface.
So reading your post you took the information he sent to you “royalty owner accounts was sold to Pennzoil…” as they sold your assets which in actuality I would bet what he was trying to impart was Pennzoil is now responsible for paying royalties to you from that point of the purchase forward. Make sense? feel free to email if not… One thing to remember, the burden to show an operator that ownership has changed whether that is from a sale, heirship or partition etc… is 99% of the time placed on the royalty or mineral owner themselves. That holds true until such time a company sends out a new Division Order.