Resolving Energy Royalty Disputes in Houston and East Texas
Unfortunately, mineral owners throughout Texas are often underpaid royalties due to a number of reasons that are not always noticeable when looking at royalty check stubs. For instance, your operator may be required to pay royalties on the market value of the production at the wellhead, but may be receiving less than market value, or a lease could require royalties to be paid on the proceeds from the lessee's sale of the minerals at the wellhead, but the lessee is not receiving the best possible price for the sale.
Regardless of the root cause of your oil or gas royalty dispute, it is important to make sure you have a law firm on your side that understands the complexities of this specialized practice area. Perdue & Kidd, L.L.P. has extensive energy litigation experience, with attorney Ben Elmore being recognized as a Rising Star in oil and gas litigation by Texas Monthly Magazine each year since 2005.
To discuss your royalty litigation issues with a skilled trial lawyer, call 713-574-7393 or toll free 877-833-7475.
Post-Production Costs
Many royalty disputes involve post-production costs such as transportation, processing, compression and treating costs. If these costs are unreasonable, your royalties may be underpaid. In other cases, the operator may sell production to an affiliate at the wellhead. The affiliate then transports, processes, treats and sells the gas downstream. The price downstream may be higher than the price the affiliate paid the operator at the wellhead, and the operator pays royalty on this lower price. In that instance you may be entitled to the higher price received by the marketing affiliate.
Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs)
Another issue that often arises involves NGLs that are obtained through the processing of natural gas. NGLs include:
- Propane
- Butane
- Pentane
- Hexane
- Heptane
If your royalty check stub shows that you are getting paid on natural gas production and are charged for processing and treating of the same gas, but that you are not getting paid for NGLs, you may be underpaid.
Contact a Royalty Dispute Trial Lawyer Today
To learn more about how Perdue & Kidd, L.L.P. can help you resolve your oil, gas or NGL payment dispute, contact the firm today.
