Can an oil and gas operator continue to post working interest -Joint Interest Billing and not pay the Revenue that is due on the wells for months? ( Yes, I am positive Revenue is due) These are on newly producing wells that I chose to participate in and starting production within the last 5-7 months and wells that have reached pay status after penalty. All ownership rights have been established. These wells are located in New Mexico.
Send a certified mail return receipt asking for royalty payments. Have you already received a Division Order? Did you sign it and return with your W-9 so they have your correct address?
Make sure that you change the minimum payments to $25 instead of the $100. That may help.
You might be jumping the gun just a bit. Some states have to begin payments at 180 days after first sales and some are 120. Not sure about NM.
It seems that you have 2 sets of working interests - one for minerals that are under forced pooling and penalties (you did not actively participate) and others where you opted to participate and pay the up-front drilling costs. Are there additional wells which are not yet in payout? If so, the missing revenues may be being applied to the associated drilling costs for those wells. You may be able to tell this from the detailed JIB statements. Or ask the oil company for a reconciliation of all the accounts. Oil and gas laws vary from state to state, so you may need to consult an attorney familiar with New Mexico law and working interests.
All first sales on new wells began 210 days or greater. NM is 180 days- NM STAT 70–1 0–3 (2024). The Operator has even promised to send the division orders for the last 90 days (we are missing a couple but they continue to charge JIBs on them anyway ) And most of the wells already have signed division orders on file. The operator continues to charge JIBS and promises to pay the revenue the next pay cycle. We completed the W-9 well over a year ago, a non issue.
You have a few levels of complexity to this issue. It sounds as if you may have participated in the drilling of a well as an unleased mineral owner or UMO. It would be helpful for you to post the operator for better response since operator practices vary. Some operators post payout statements to EnergyLink and others will provide copies directly. In some cases operators will not issue a DO until APO is achieved which can increase the delay in revenue.
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I prefer not to mention the operator. We have working interest in some wells that we participated in and working interest in some wells that are ALREADY in APO status for the last few YEARS that we did not participate in ( we had no idea about the inherited interest). I am on Energylink and understand how that works and get all JIBS and Revenue statements. I also have all APO data for the wells. Can an operator continue to post JIBs and not pay the revenue due if DOs are signed?
If your owner account is current, then revenue should be distributed. If you are not subject to a JOA, then you have fewer options. What is the response from the operator regarding payment status?
The operator’s response has been- “We will get you in pay status next month.” “The division order is coming next week.” This has been the case for the last 6-8 months, depending on the well.