AboutJames H. McConnell, CPL Expertise READ CAREFULLY BEFORE ASKING ME A QUESTION
I will try to answer questions about oil & gas leases, minerals, royalties, and servitudes, if the questioner has provided a good description of the lands. I require a section, township and range for any land not it Texas. I require a survey name and an abstract number if the lands are in Texas. I will answer questions about offers to lease or purchase mineral interests only if all terms of the offer are in the question, including the term, the royalty and the amount offered. Failure to provide this information will result in the question being rejected.
I have answered more than 2300 questions on this site and get as many as fifty in one day. I do not have the time nor am I inclined to deal with detailed questions requiring an attorney. I am not a substitute for an attorney. If you do not write in a cognizant form, I will reject your question. If you have done real research and have a question I find interesting, I will answer it. If you haven't done any research on your own, I will not do it for you.
If you do not rate the first answer, do not send a follow up, because I will reject it. If my time means so little to you that you feel that you cannot take your time to rate an answer, I do not have time to answer another question.
Experience I have been a Professional Landman for more than thirty five years. I have drilled and operated oil & gas wells in Louisiana and Texas and an familiar with the rules and Regulations of the Texas Railroad Commission and the Louisiana Department of Conservation. I have testified in court as an expert witness.
Question My family has an existing lease for a gas well with Goodrich Petroleum. Since August of 2008, the company has withheld royalties from the gas well on our property, and claims that we were "Paid" royalties in error for another well in the pooled leases. The check remittances that we have received, indicate that we have never received payment from this other lease. We have met with the land man, who admitted the company had made a mistake in paying royalties on this other well, but we have never been provided any accounting or notice from the company. The land man agreed that we should "probably" be paid the royalties due rather than them being withheld (we have this in a taped conversation) but claims he cant persuade the "financial people". Is there a regulatory authority who oversees this type of thing? We have received nothing in writing for almost a year, but believe the well on our property is still producing. Rather than launch a civil suit, at our expense, is there some other avenue available to us?
The wells are both located in Rusk County Texas, and are the Hall, Smith and Hall HT wells.
Answer Send the company a certified letter, demanding payment within thirty days for all royalties due and owing to you. State that there are no title problems of which you are aware and if there are to send you that portion of the title opinion that sets out the defects and makes the requirements to correct them. State that any monies due and owing you for ninety days or more after the expiration of the 30 days will be subject to payment of interest by the operator.
Once you have done this and 30 days has passed and still no payment, take the copy of the letter and the return receipt to your lawyer. You have fulfilled the statute requirements for notice and the lawyer can file suit immediately. At this point, they could be liable for treble damages. More than likely you will be paid within 30 days.
