Operator Problem

Texas Mineral Rights Cochran County, TX
#1

Hello all

The following problem has been ongoing for over a year. I gave the guy a break thinking maybe Covid was a delay issue but now I’m thinking I’m just being hosed:

I am a Canadian that inherited royalty interest for an oil well in Texas Cochran County from my mother. I got the probate documents and will authenticated with the county. They verified ownership has been transferred to my name and I have been paying the taxes. I found out the well was (and is) currently producing and notified the well operator and sent them paperwork long ago, and they have still not set anything up.

Many times I emailed their website that states “response in 48 hours”, no response. I’ve called their listed phone numbers multiple times, that have said “mailbox full” for months now. I did manage to get the personal email of the president who said to send him everything which I did immediately… that was a year ago! This particular operator has numerous companies and I noticed he recently flipped the operatorship of my well interest into another of his companies.

I got the help of a mineral manager in Fort Worth that sent 2 letters certified that were returned unaccepted, and it appears my helper considers they’ve tried and done their part and don’t appear interested in helping further… It has been mentioned to maybe send a demand letter from a lawyer, but if this guy just ignores all correspondence why spend $$$ to get a nice official sounding letter just thrown back unaccepted? I’m curious how an operator can get away with pocketing my proceeds for a year and just pretending I’m not there.

Any advice would be greatly helpful. And if anyone maybe knows a Midland Tx-based mineral manager I can contact that might be willing to take my documentation to the operator’s office directly (if it’s even a valid office!) I’d love to contact them.

Thank you

#2

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#3

Several ideas: -The company may be experiencing difficulties due to COVID and are working from home.

-Check the Better Business Bureau and Bizapedia to see if their address has changed or find their agent of record and contact to get the correct address.

-Send all correspondence by certified mail, return receipt. You have to sign a division order in Texas in order to be paid. Sometimes, they are backed up for months.

-You may have some difficulty since you are a Canadian citizen. I have heard that only US citizens can own mineral rights. You may need legal help to clarify that one. Maybe royalty rights are okay.

-Check the NARO category on the forum and then the Bankruptcies topic to see a list of operators that are in bankruptcy. Not exclusive, but has some of the main ones.

-do a search on the company on various platforms for news about them or their leadership to see if they still exist.

-check the TX RailRoad Commission website to see if they have sold the property. You may not have the current operator.

#4

Any information you can share: well location, operator name, or well name could aid in helping people on this forum provide more specific advice to hopefully help you get this resolved.