My sister and I each own 80 Mineral Acres in Canadian County - section 26-13N-6W. In 2015 we leased our mineral rights and paid an attorney to review the lease and add Exhibits to the lease to ensure there would be no deductions from any royalty payments other than any applicable taxes.
In 2018, Roan Resources drilled a horizontal well that we are a part of - Taborek 26-35-13-6 No 1MXH. In November of 2018 they had first sales from this well. We did not receive our first royalty payment until November of 2019. So we were entitled to the 12% Statutory Interest since they did not pay within 6 months of first sales. Also, from the very beginning, Roan Resources withheld deductions for gathering, compression, etc. in violation of our lease agreement. Starting in December of 2018 I began contacting Roan Resources Owner Relations about the 12% interest, and the deductions that should not be withheld. I was told they had hundreds of leases to review and they would make the corrections once the review was complete.
In January of 2020 I was told Citizen Energy had bought out Roan Resources and I was referred to a lady in Owner Relations at Citizen. Energy I emailed her about my issues, and sent her a copy of my lease agreement. She assured me everything would be corrected, but I was one of thousands and it would take time. I remained in contact with her and finally on 2/19/2021 I received an email reply from a Senior Land Analyst with Citizen Energy. In part, her reply stated “I reviewed your lease and the Production Expenses clause this morning and agree with you that your interest should not be charged deducts…Once this has been updated in our system, you will no longer see deducts charged against your interest and will also receive a refund for all improperly taken deducts.” She also assured me they were working on the statutory interest payment.
I continued to stay in contact with Citizen Energy, and 6/7/21 a woman in Owner Relations told me that there is a class action lawsuit over the Statutory Interest - Haycreek Roan Settlement. She said the deductions were specific to each individual lease and were being taken care of by the lady I had been dealing with and that she would get that taken care of as soon as possible.
Our royalty payment we received in July 2021 finally had the deductions stopped, but we never received payment for all of the deductions taken out in violation of our lease agreement. On 8/30/21 I received a very small payment from the Haycreek-Roan Settlement Fund, which was less than what I had calculated the 12% Statutory Interest payment to be. I have kept a spreadsheet on our payments, and the deductions withheld in violation of our lease agreement are several thousand dollars, which is a significant amount of money to us.
Now, Citizen Energy Owner Relations is telling me the Haycreek Roan settlement covered both statutory interest AND the improper deducts. This is not what I was told from the beginning - that the settlement was only for the statutory interest payment and that I would receive payment for the improper deducts from Citizen Energy. I cannot believe that small payment of roughly 1/6 of what they owed me would be legal. Furthermore, Citizen Energy had continued withholding deductions totaling several thousand dollars after they took over for Roan Resources. We spent money with a lawyer up front with our lease to ensure we would not have deductions withheld, so I do not see how they can legally do this. Now, the same law firm that I used on the lease is telling me basically there is nothing I can do, but for $325 an hour they will consult with me.
So do I truly have no recourse in this matter? Was spending money with an oil & gas attorney on my lease a waste of money because oil companies can get away with withholding whatever they want? This is so disheartening it makes me sick. I appreciate anyone’s advice or input.