We have been getting royalty payments $15,000-20,000/month on a monthly basis from TG Natural Gas resources for over two years.  We received the last check in November...none in December which is highly unusual.  We finally heard back from Owner Relations at the company today.  

They said they would not be sending us anymore payments as we had been overpaid for a "long time".  They said that they would start paying us again when we had paid back what we had been overpaid.  When we asked how much we had overpaid they said " a lot."  

Is this OK for companies to do?  We have not received any documentation from the company saying we were overpaid so they were not going to be making payments from now on.  

Any advice is appreciated.

Ellen

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Skip, do you think this is an appropriate notice to send to TGNR owner relations?

I have not received a revenue statement since check number 441708 dated November 2, 2022.  Someone in owner relations told me that the reason I have not received a royalty check and revenue statement since that November date is because “I have been overpaid for a long time” and will not receive any more royalty payments nor statements until the overpayment has been paid back.  When I asked how much I had been overpaid the response was “a lot.”

 I am formally requesting the reason I overpaid and an updated revenue statement with the status of my account as of January 19, 2023. 

 Please respond to the letter within 30 days of receipt pursuant to Section 91.505 of the  Texas Natural Resources Code.

Again, thank you for your help and sharing of knowledge on this matter.

That's fine.  Send it certified if mailing.  I like email as it requires the name of the appropriate staffer/account manager and creates a record of correspondence.  I'm also encouraging mineral owners to try the "Contact My Operator" option on EnergyLink.com to see if that might be a better means for communicating with the operators that use the website.

Skip, we sent a  certified letter and got a response.  The letter said, "Operational changes in gas flow were made the beginning of October 2021 production in our Southeast Carthage area.  When these changes occur, accounting systems must be updated to reflect those changes as these changes impact the sales allocation process.  The operational changes made in October 2021 were applied to our accounting systems and sale allocation processes beginning with August 2022 production. 

As a result, it was necessary to review the period from October 2021 production through July 2022 production to correct for these operational changes".  

They included an excel spread sheet with columns and numbers that don't mean anything to us.  See the attached file.  We thought the column labeled "REVERSAL" was the payment for royalties initially received and the column labeled "REBOOK" was the amount we should have received.  But, none of the numbers on the spreadsheet match anything we received.  So, for example...the spreadsheet says on 1/1/2022 Reversal $11,183.55... Rebook $ (8,751.42).  We didn't receive either of those amounts at anytime.

So, do you have a suggestion as to our next step?  Thanks in advance, Ellen

Attachments:

Ellen,  I can't open your attachment but from your description, I don't think I could help.  What you need is a forensic accountant familiar with oil and gas/royalty experience.  They don't come cheap.  The one that I have some experience with is Aliign Mineral Management in Shreveport.  I'll post a link to their website in case you might care to speak with them.

https://www.aliignllc.com/

Thank you!

You're welcome.  Good luck.

Trying not to be too funny, but it was akin to pulling teeth from an unsedated Alligator!

Actions were as follows...

1st - Payments just stopped (3 months)

2nd - Devon sent a letter stating we had been getting overpaid  (month #4)

3rd - Silence of the Lambs (3 more months)

4th - Devon sent a letter stating payments would resume soon  (month #8)

5th - Requested additional detail in more aggressive manner (month #9)

6th - Devon sent a detailed letter of overpayments, including that I was receiving Royalties on a Well that I did not hold Interest in (month #10)

7th - Payments resumed (month #28 on 1 Well)

Took some time to resolve, but all good now... and now we have EnergyLink to review most Producers 

Thanks.  It shouldn't take pulling teeth but such is the way the O&G industry operates.

Hey Skip - I do have a question, how could I have received payments on a Well or Survey that I held no interest in? Don't the O&G Operators do diligent research on whom they are Leasing from or issuing payments to? I just happened to check back on the original Lease and Division Orders and noticed that I was listed as an interest order on both, but suddenly after over a year was removed from the agreement. Of course I don't hold enough of a percentage to make it worth pursuing through the legal system. Can the line of a Well change enough to remove you from production? 

Like I said, just a question.

Thanks! 

Bill, I think yours maybe a question on Texas mineral law.  That's far above my pay grade.  As to the prevalence of errors in Division Order Tittle reviews, they happen fairly often.  If fact far more often than they should with fast moving lease competitions such as happened with the Haynesville Shale.  At present I have two unit surveys (LA) on my desk where the original submitted in 2019 was corrected by a subsequent unit survey in 2020.  The industry cut many corners in their efforts to build land positions in the Haynesville Shale and that resulted in many errors.  Some of those errors will be corrected, many never will.

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