Several questions here about our King Fisher 23 Unit A and Unit B Wells; Noble Energy drilled these units. First off, our royalties were put in “suspense” for no reason until 3 months ago, as first production was in January of 2018. Requests for return calls went unmet until finally a young man in Division Orders received an irate email I sent. He was helpful, but couldn’t explain why we were put in suspense. Upon asking for clarification, nothing was ever provided. Requests for Statutory Interest penalties were met with a duplicate copy of our first payment readout, disregarding any reference to interest. After the initial revenue payment pertaining to a year and 3 months of royalties, the decline rate is extreme by ANY standards. The second payment corresponded to one month’s revenue, and by the third payment, that payment had dropped by 2/3. Inside information has it that Noble is in the midst of layoffs and other upheavals. I have no idea if this is partially to blame for a great deal of confusion and seeming disregard for royalty owner’s rights. I’d like to know if anybody else has had similar experiences with Noble Energy, and any knowledge of these 2 King Fisher Wells. Thanks!
We signed a two year lease in 2018 with Rosetta Resources who was acquired by Noble. So far nothing from Noble on the mineral interest we leased.
Which Section, Rick? If you are due revenues from the King Fisher Wells, first production was in Jan., 2018. We did the same, leasing to Rosetta. Later, we received a letter from Noble stating our royalties were to be paid by Noble, as they acquired Rosetta. That’s precisely what caused us to start calling Noble to inquire about our “royalties”, resulting in an 18 month battle for information.
Sections 270 & 271 Block 13 H&GN. I don’t think we’re in the same section as we have not received ANY communication from Noble regarding the acquisition of Rosetta Resources. Our lease stipulates when a name change occurs like in a trade or a sale of the lease to another company that we be notified. Don’t know if that language applies to an acquisition though.
Ok, got it. Hopefully it will get drilled. Thanks.
Do not “Relent” Ms. Elizabeth,
Have you an attorney or Landsman hired? If not, you would be well served should you acquire one of these!
My best regards,
Stephen Watkins
Thanks, Stephen! Relent is not in my vocabulary! The Royalties Department seemed to believe they could mollify me and throw out a smokescreen of futile paperwork. They’ve underestimated me. AGAIN. Best Wishes!
Ms. Elizabeth,
"Keep on KEEPING ON!" "We must endeavor to persevere", Chief Lone Waddie in the Outlaw Josie Wales.
Stephen Watkins
Elizabeth- The only way Noble could legally suspense payment of your royalties is if there is a title defect raised by a requirement made in a title opinion covering the property. Any additional inquiries you make to Noble, you should ask them to provide you with a copy of the pertinent part of the title opinion where the defect is discussed. I know you have gotten little to no response, so this request may get ignored as well, but I would definitely ask/demand it.
A few things about those wells. Early time they are pretty good performers, however they are declining pretty quickly, even by shale standards.Part of that could be the proximity to one another (some overlap in reserves), but it could also be related to the well orientation which is a little non-standard for that area of the basin. On top of the relatively quick decline, the oil/gas prices and differentials have been on a pretty wild ride through the life of those wells so I would expect a lot of variability in the royalty payments based on that alone. Also, in January Concho fracked the offsetting “JACK STATE A UNIT” wells and very likely frac hit your wells, I’m basing this assumption on the proximity of the Jack wells and performance hit the wells take around that point in time. (cant confirm without water prod data, not public) And finally, your in pretty good rock with a lot of locations left to be drilled in the future! These two will not be your last!
You are right, Frank. The young man that finally responded to me after over a year of attempts was actually very helpful. At one point, he mentioned a title issue, to which I asked “What kind of issue?” He said, “Oh, that shouldn’t have happened” or something to that effect. We not only probated our parent’s estate to prove title of their estate, but had a family trust and backup will as Daddy was a title attorney. There was absolutely no reason for title issues to be involved. I feel like there was a lot of confusion when Rosetta was purchased by Noble, and owner information was not transferred correctly. I called Noble on several occasions and never received call backs nor letters until finally after sending a very terse email to the Division Orders Department, the young man responded. He was actually very apologetic. However, nobody at Noble is willing to admit we are due interests for late payment. At least, not yet.
KatKon, thank you! Geeeeze, I hope you’re right! I read several articles about the sharp decline curve in the Permian being outrageous for the reasons you stated. My sister (we own family minerals 50-50) sent an interesting article earlier in the day about Oil Companies in West Texas not paying mineral owners their due revenues. Essentially, it suggested a “Wild West” atmosphere with dysfunction, misinformation and fraudulent practices and little to no oversight. Not sure if any of this is going on. We’re in Oklahoma, and we already know which companies play fair and which ones will do anything to underpay. I’m hoping these wells will prove to be more productive and live up to expectations… The lease amounts were well above Oklahoma rates.
You mention you were in suspense until three months ago. Was that the same time when the DO analyst you spoke with fixed the issue? And did your first pay stub include payment back to first production? Also, did you receive and sign a division order, and, if so, when? I agree that if you are still in suspense you should ask for the pertinent portion of the DOTO that should explain the title requirement. It is correct that they are supposed to pay interest if they didn’t suspend for a title issue, but that is often difficult to make them do.
Thanks, so much. I just saw this response. My crazy computer settings don’t alert me correctly. We were able to go back to the first production date, however, Noble sent all kinds of silly repetitious production readouts in an attempt to cover their tails. No interest payments have ever been made.