Hello, we are mineral owners in a couple of wells in Richland Co. They were completed in June and have been producing since then. It’s nearly Nov, and we still have not received division orders. Anyone have experience with Kraken, and what is a reasonable amount of time to see DO’s?
Each state has its own regulations, but five-six months is reasonable. In OK, the DO usually comes at about five months because statutory payments are at six months after first sales. Wells can have hundreds of mineral owners and it takes months to do the title work for all of them.
The Montana Oil and Gas Commission (or whatever it is called) has a listing of statutes and regulations. Maybe someone on the forum can point you to the right online link.
I am in the same situation as re Kraken and a well in Richland county. I contacted the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Commisioners, by phone and email, to no avail. I also tried to speak with the head of Montana operations for Kraken, Andrew McGhee, but could not reach him. i left a message but have not been called back. His office can be reached at 713-534-1831.
Thanks, just trying to get a feel for what to expect…we did get an obligatory form letter advising us of Kraken’s filing to the Montana Board their application for a permanent spacing unit, and pooling of the remaining mineral interest owners, which was indeed filed on Oct 3, so I guess we may be getting close. I also talked to a landman at Kraken, and his best guess was Sept for the DO’s. Until we start getting royalty checks, I think we are on our own to dig up information…typical Oil Co, I suppose.
Mark: Glad to see Kraken (and maybe others) are drilling in Richland County once again. If you don’t mind me asking, where is your property located? We are at T22 North, Range 60 East, Section 5 SW 1/4. Have not had this property leased in several years, even though we have had some successful wells in the past.
Robert, these are in 25N-59E sec7. We also have unleased interest in sec 18, as well as 24N-58E sec 11 &12 , which were leased and permitted in late 2014 just before the oil price crash…like to see those developed as well!
Richard, I got a hold of the Division Order Annalist at Kraken, and they were most helpful. Leslie Robinson…
Mark,
I am in your debt for this. I will initiate contact today.
Richard
Ok, so I was a bit surprised to receive our first royalty check from Kraken before the Division Order. I was told by the DO annalist at Kraken a few weeks ago that the DO’s would be sent out the middle of this month. I was expecting to confirm Kraken’s decimal interest figure with an O&G atty for confirmation, but was told by a friend, that we needn’t go to the trouble to have the DO checked as the oil co (Kraken) had to report to the SEC, and take their figure at face value.
Opinions on this would be much appreciated!!
That surprises me too. FYI, I contacted the Kraken DO analyst whose name you so kindly provided but have not heard back. For how many months of production did Kraken pay you?
Dick Doyle
Dick, yes, the well started producing in June, and we were paid for 4 months, June thru Sept. Our decimal interest shown on the check stub seems in line with what I was calculating, but this stuff involves a lot of research to verify, and I just feel a little uncertain accepting Kraken’s number for our interest without being confirmed by an independent 3rd party…perhaps I am over paranoid about this, and should just sign the DO when it comes and cash the checks…
Is this for a multi section well or a single section well?
Generally, the formula is:
net acres/spacing acres x royalty for a single section well.
For a multi section well, you would need to look up the rules for your state, but in OK, the equation is:
net acres/spacing acres x royalty x % perforations in your section.
Texas is slightly different, so check with the Montana Oil and Gas statute.
I never sign without checking as over the years have found mistakes. Most are right, but never hurts to check. You can call the division order analyst and get them to tell you your net acres and royalty that they used to calculate. Check it against your deed and lease.
Thanks much for that reply Ms Barnes! This helps a lot. I guess the net acre calculation was what I was thinking of…this is pretty simple after all…it is 2 sections but the horizontal is contained within both, so 100% times the rest of the equation matches extremely close (to the 6th decimal place) and Krakens figure is marginally higher than the simple equation figure, so I’m happy with that!
I am always happy if theirs is a bit higher than mine! Those last decimals don’t matter much, but if it is higher, then I usually sign it. If it is lower by a substantial amount, I call the DO analyst and see where we have different numbers. Don’t forget to send in your W-9. I also change the minimum amount to $25 instead of $100, so down the line when the royalties decline, my kids will continue to get more regular checks. Eventually, they will dry up.