Pittsburg Co OK/Trinity Operating

My 2 siblings and I own equal shares of minerals in Pittsburg Co, OK (32-5N-4E). About a year ago Trinity put 3 gas wells in, and the way they are situated, we are participating in 2 of them, the May#1 and #2. The first payment missed the 6 month payment date by a little over a month. The next few months paid on time but there have been a crazy number of “adjustments” both paid and deducted.

We received 0 for October (should have been paid in December) and based on their usual pay date I am not seeing anything coming up for November (due in January). We have been trying since day 1 (both my brother and I) with a great deal of patience to communicate with these people. I do not understand how they can run a business this way.

We both inquired about the missing payments and he got one “vague” response about deduction for prior overpayment and my inquiry just kept getting “we have sent that to blah blah. Emails never have an actual name of anyone to deal with just “Owner Relations”. We all use EnergyLink to track our payments and the months with the supposed reversed entries have no detail on there so we basically have received no payment and no explanation for October or November.

What is the next correct step? They have all the power and all the info which is maddening. I need either the name of someone higher up, an attorney, or what? My last email went 22 days and remained unanswered and my follow-up got the “we have forwarded your inquiry to the revenue dept supervisor and will be addressed in the order received” response. Thoughts? TIA!

Looks like May 1 and 2 are in t 19/30, not in 32. Only May 3 is in 20/29/32. That might be the first issue if you only own acres in 32. They may have accidentally paid you for #1 and #2 and are rebalancing back out. This #3 well has an unusual spacing, so that complicates the issue as well. See Case 2024-000071.

It can take a bit of unraveling in the first few months of production. It sounds like there may be some confusion as to which well or wells you have acreage in. The time line can be frustrating, but is normal.

Keep copies of everything that you have received. Give it about three months to straighten out. Have a copy of your lease or force pool selection at hand. I find it safer to send demand letters by certified mail return receipt for a complete paper trail. They are dealing with thousands of mineral owners in those five sections, so it takes a while to get the Division Order title opinion finished and the run sheet put together correctly.

Oil companies are synonymous with avoid–hoping you will get frustrated and go away. They are getting paid regardless. I do not understand how they run a business that way either.

Thoughts: talk to an Attorney or study up on Oklahoma Production Revenue Standards act and see if you can get them going. https://www.okbar.org/barjournal/may-2022/epperson/

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