Yes, I am feeling a bit exasperated. But these folks put a double-handful of wells in my area, all of which started coming on-line in May and June of last year. And I haven’t seen a dime.
I did get Division Order on one group of wells, back in March - but my W-9 didn’t reach the right desk in time to get processed for payment. In April, I received amended Division Order on the first group, and you’d have thought that - with my W-9 already in hand - they wouldn’t need my signed copies to make a payment. But I haven’t seen a dime.
Does this sound like a company that is about to go under, or what? 'Cause, you know, I haven’t seen a dime.
@mainline13 there’s an old saying… “the wheels of justice grind slowly”. I’m afraid that same notion applies to the upstream energy business… ie, “the wheels of the Division Order Dept. grind slowly”. After about 6 mos. following well completion, if you’ve not seen some action, I’d start with a phone call/email or two…
Appreciate the response, but I’ve been there, done that, been ignored. Most of these wells are in their 12th month of production. They’ve produced almost 5 BCF that I know of (and I’m only seeing up to February).
I usually send the operators a certified return mail receipt letter reminding them that they owe me 12% interest on any late payments. That usually gets them moving!
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I did mention the interest to my DO Analyst, but in general, I don’t want to remind them of the interest payment before I get the payment on which the interest will be calculated.
Also, is this mandated interest a one-time thing, or is it an APR, or what? We’re about to get into year 2, so I’d hate to forego the second late payment (if that would apply for the second year).
mainline,
The statutory penalty is 12% per annum compounded annually. There are long formulas used to compute the interest, which I won’t attempt to type, you can request them from the DO dept. if you so desire. Someone correct me if I’am wrong, but I don’t believe you will receive a lump sum payment. If it makes you feel any better, our family has interest in a well in McClain Co.( Red Rocks ) and the delay of the Title Opinion Division Order is approaching two years.
You mentioned "mandated interest ". This is a question for anyone. Is the payment of interest the responsibility of the mineral owner requesting it, or is there a statute requiring the payment without such a request ?
I understand that there is a statute, and that this requirement is made of the operator. I also am given to understand that many operators “forget” unless reminded.
What is the additional penalty for forgetting if this statute is violated ? What is the statue number ?
mainline13,
I just finished working with Trinity to get several wells held under suspense out of suspense. I was unaware of the suspense situation (zero communication from Trinity on these 3 wells) and only after talking directly to one of the Trinity land people did I got the wells “un-suspensed” and very quickly I might add. You might get the information you are looking for and maybe even get action taken (if needed) by going directly to someone at Trinity who can actually get you an answer and actually take action to get something done as my experience with Trinity is that their Owner Relations group (or person) cannot.
If you want to contact me via private email and I will give you the name and number of a land-person at Trinity that you can contact to hopefully answer your questions and possibly take action (if needed) to get payment going. Of course, exercise this contact with great discretion as these folks are not actually tasked with the responsibility of working the problems of, or answering questions from, mineral owners.
Slight change to the article is that the law was changed for the ones with title problems effective Nov 1, 2018. “Where such proceeds are not paid because the title thereto is not marketable, such proceeds shall earn interest at the rate of (i) six percent (6%) per annum to be compounded annually for time periods prior to November 1, 2018, and (ii) the prime interest rate as reported in the Wall Street Journal for time periods on or after November 1, 2018,…”[March 22, 2018 ‐ 4.75%.]
First off, I did finally get my first dime (or thereabouts) from Trinity - then I spent most of the weekend trying to understand the statement, and to reconcile it with what I had seen on various sites (this one included).
I want to thank everyone for their contributions - they really did help me work things out. I still have some questions for my DO analyst - and/or my friendly Landman - but I’m in much better shape than I was, in many ways. 
I have 5 EOG resources wells on my property (McClain co. 8-8n-4w) that have been pumping since August of 2018. So far nothing. They better pay me the 12% interest since it is over the 6 month mark per Oklahoma law.
Here is how I understand Trinity’s process for the late interest:
When an owner requests interest for a late payment, the relevant information is provided to Accounting, where the interest amount will be calculated and forwarded to Accounts Payable.
So if an owner doesn’t request it, they apparently won’t get it.
We must be in the same area. We have minerals in section 8 McClain co. that have been producing for a yr. now and nothing. When i call they say its a delay in Title Opinion. Very frustraiting
I’m sure this is clear to everyone,
Waiting on a Title Opinion is not a title defect, the If there are no title issues then the greater interest rate is due.
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Disclosure: I also own minerals in Trinity wells and have several friends who also own.
I suspect Trinity is behind, specifically in Hughes County, due to the ongoing litigation surrounding both underpayment of royalties and statutory interest. Most of you probably know that Trinity is formerly PetroQuest Energy, LLC. PetroQuest was sued in a class action, see Hoog et al v. PetroQuest Energy, LLC et al. This case actually put PetroQuest into bankruptcy in late 2018. It will take some time before everything is cleaned up.
M. Barnes is 100% correct in that if your royalties are being held in suspense for a reason other than curative, you are entitled to 12% interest per annum to be compounded annually, calculated from the end of the month in which such production is sold until the day paid. If your royalties are held in suspense for curative reasons, you get 6% per annum.
I have spoken with one of the Plaintiff’s Attorneys for the Class Action against Petroquest/Trinity and his recommendation was that you simply send a letter to Trinity via certified mail reminding them of their obligations under OK Statutes, Title 52, ss.52-570.10
If you receive your first check on these delayed wells and it does not contain a breakout for interest, my suggestion would be to contact the Lanier Law Firm, who are current Lead Counselors for the Hoog v. Petroquest case.
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You need to send a certified letter return receipt mail to request the interest payment. I usually wait until after I get the first payment just to make sure that it is not included in that payment. Some companies include it and some do not. The longer they are late, the more you get.
M barnes. Question. I received my check of 23,000 about a week ago. Yesterday I received a check of 161,000 on my 35 acres. Could this be a mistake. Or is this a back pay check. thanks FP
Look on the check run statement that goes with it. One of them may be for the royalties and one may be for interest if they were late in paying beyond six months after first sales.
Or the larger check may be for five to six months of royalties and the smaller one may be the next month.
If you have questions after looking at the run statement, then call the number listed on the check and ask.
Save all run statements for tax time to match with the 1099. Especially if you have interest, because you want to make sure the 1099 has everything stated correctly.