I reside in Oklahoma. The oil and gas lease is in Panola County Texas. We haven’t been receiving all of our royalties for some time by working interest owners who also reside in Oklahoma. Should I talk to an attorney in Oklahoma or Texas? If Texas, can anyone suggest a good attorney in Panola County?
Have you contacted each operator by certified mail return receipt to the Division Order Analyst or the Revenue department asking how many net acres and what royalty they are carrying for you? Also have you checked the division order decimal to make sure that it matches. Why do you think that you are not getting all of your royalties? Explain to them why you do not think you are getting your royalties and ask them to clarify. Include your name, owner number name of the wells, decimal amount from your statements. Start there. You will need that information before deciding upon an attorney. This is the less expensive way to start.
How do you know they aren’t paying you all of what’s owed?
Because one is paying.
Ok. Thank you. So if I still need an attorney would it be a Texas attorney or Oklahoma attorney?
Texas oil & gas attorney for Texas minerals.
Thank you. The easiest solution would be if the oil companies would pay us direct. They pay the working interest owners who then are supposed to pay us. It used to be one WI owner but due to death and inheritance it’s now 7. It’s a mess. We’re paying the appraisal district taxes but not receiving all the revenue. It’s very little money especially when you divide it by 7. But for us, because they’re family and we ignored it, it’s up to a couple thousand dollars and counting. I would like to clear this up so our children don’t have to deal with it when we’re gone.
This is what I read on the RRC site:
“Sections 91.401(2) and 91.501 As a working interest owner in a well or property, you have the responsibility to pay or cause to be paid any royalties due under the lease agreement from which you derived your working interest. This is true even if you are not the operator of the well or property. You can cause the royalty to be paid by entering into an agreement with the operator or purchaser of production to pay the royalties on your behalf. The purpose of this brochure is to provide you with basic royalty payment information to help you pay royalties timely. Remember it is through the cooperation of the mineral owner and the working interest owner that oil and gas is produced. The requirements covered in this brochure are outlined in the Texas Natural Resources Code Section 91 Subchapters J and L. These requirements include: • When to pay royalties, when royalties can be suspended, and what interest rate to pay when interest is due • What should be reported with a payment • The statutory components of a division order • What kind of notice to provide royalty owners when you buy a working interest or when the payor changes • What information a royalty interest owner can request.”
The WI owners would be agreeable to letting the oil companies handle it. It’s getting the oil companies on board especially when one of them has never responded to me on anything ever. They already pay us on another well so I would think it would be simple for them.
I would think this would be a common issue.
This is unusual, but not unheard of today. There are probably a few more complications once you dig into the process of obtaining a direct pay. You may want to start with a skilled landman at the start of this process in order to establish a framework with the first purchaser, WI owner, and yourself.