Hi, I hold an Overriding Royalty Interest (ORRI) along with several Mineral Interests (MI) and Royalty Interests (RI) in a unit well. Unfortunately, I have been unable to get the Operator to pay me or to provide any communication explaining why my payments are being withheld.
Two years ago, I hired an attorney who sent letters and made phone calls, but this effort did not yield any results. I initially thought we were on track to receive payment after communicating with the Division Order Analyst, but now the company has suspended all my interest payments, not just the specific interests in question.
I know I am entitled to these payments, but despite my attempts, I can’t get any response from the company. I am looking for a straightforward attorney who can help resolve this issue and who won’t be intimidated by the Operator’s tactics. Thanks
Suspending every interest at once, including ones that were paying, usually means a flag on your owner account, not the well. A title requirement or a merger deck rebuild, as Martha said. Two things for whoever you hire: under the PRSA the operator owes 12 percent interest on proceeds held where title is marketable, and the prevailing owner recovers attorney fees. That fee-shifting is why a good one will take this. Did the suspension come with a letter naming a reason, or none at all?
There are attorneys listed in the Directories tab above. You can also try the OK Bar Association and look up attorneys with oil and gas specialty. You may have to call several because they may have a conflict of interest with the operator you are trying to deal with.
No letter is the useful fact. It means the suspension is on your owner account, so whoever you hire should start with owner relations before anyone argues about the ORRI. Martha’s conflict point is real, so before calling the list, put the file together: the last division order for each interest, the last stub that paid, the month payment stopped, and the interest math from the statute. An attorney who gets that in one envelope calls back. Do you still have the last paying stubs?
It is also possible that the operator overpaid a while back and they are actually recouping the difference and will begin payments when the balance is finished. They often will stop payments on all wells with no notice. It might be worth another certified letter with your owner number, the wells of interest, your timeline of correspondence and request a reason for non-payment.
File an Oil and Gas Owners’ lien; try to estimate as close as you can what is due. Send a copy of the recoded lien to the purchaser oil and or gas purchaser. They will hold the amount of the lien until it is released by you. Should get an immediate response. The authority you do this is the Oil & Gas owners lien act of 2010. Part of the PRSA. 12% interest compounded yearly is due on all revenue in arrears over 6 months. You can do this without an attorney. I have filed against ORRI and royalty.