Learn
Guides for Texas royalty owners, by situation
12 guides on the paper you get with a royalty check. Each one explains one part of it, works a real example through, and gives you the question to ask your operator. Sources are listed at the end of every guide.
Situation 1
I just inherited minerals
Who pays you, what you may be asked to sign, and the rights that come with the interest.
Situation 2
My check changed or stopped
Late money, new deductions, a different operator: find the reason and the question to ask.
- 7 minute readTexas late royalty payment interest (§91.402 and §91.403)The 60 and 90 day deadlines, the interest rate, and how to work out what you are owed.Read the guide
- 5 minute readWhy is there a negative amount on my royalty statement?Reversals, rebills and late lines: a worked example, and when a correction is worth a question.Read the guide
- 7 minute readPost-production deductions explainedGathering, compression, treating and processing: what they are and when to ask.Read the guide
- 6 minute readRailroad Commission disposition codes explainedWhere your gas went, code by code, and why a code change can change your check.Read the guide
Situation 3
I want to read my stub
Every box and code, the arithmetic behind a line, and how the state names the gas.
- 8 minute readHow to read a royalty check stubEvery box on the stub, what it means, and the five checks that take ten minutes.Read the guide
- 7 minute readWhat the codes on a royalty stub meanBBL, MCF, NRI, ORRI and the rest: a searchable glossary and a stub you can tap.Read the guide
- 7 minute readHow Texas oil royalties are calculatedVolume, price, decimal and tax on one real month, with the arithmetic marked up.Read the guide
- 7 minute readWhat your decimal interest means, and how to check itWhere the long decimal comes from and how to rebuild it from your lease and the unit.Read the guide
- 7 minute readHow to check your royalty stub against a lease pageFind the lease, pick the month, multiply by your decimal, then read the gas codes, operator and buyers.Read the guide
- 6 minute readOil, casinghead gas and gas well gasThe Railroad Commission's words for the gas on your stub, and why they matter.Read the guide
Situation 4
It is tax season
What the 1099 counts, what the state already took out, and what depletion is.
Free tools
Try it on your own numbers
Each one asks one question of your stub and shows its arithmetic.
- Why did my check go down?Why is my royalty check lower?Splits the drop from last check to this one into volume, price, deductions and your share.
- When is my next check, and will it be bigger?When is my next check?The next three checks: when each should come, the month it pays for, its Texas deadline and which way prices point.
- What should each check have been?Lease royalty estimatorTwo years of monthly royalty for a Texas lease and your decimal, with the date each payment was due.
- What should my check be?Royalty calculatorVolume, price and decimal to an estimated check, with costs and tax.
- Is my gas royalty right?Gas royalty calculatormcf to MMBtu, residue gas and plant products, and where each cost comes off.
- When will my small balance be paid?Small royalty balanceThe $10 and $100 rules for small balances, and when a yearly payment would come.
- Was I paid late, and what is owed?Late payment interestTexas, Oklahoma and North Dakota deadlines and the interest a late payment earns.
- What are my mineral rights worth?Mineral rights valueLast-year income, a decline curve and a value range for your Texas interest.
- Is my decimal right?Decimal interest calculatorRoyalty fraction times net acres over unit acres, for royalty, override and working interests.
- Does my decimal match the unit?Unit decimal checkerYour royalty and net acres over the unit acres on the state permit, and the unit size your division order implies.
- Bigger bonus or bigger royalty?Compare lease offersTwo or three lease offers side by side: the bonus difference and the sales at which the higher royalty pays more.
- Do I own mineral rights?Mineral interest finderSearch a name on Texas county mineral rolls for accounts, counties and leases.
- Is the state holding my royalties?Unclaimed royalties searchThe exact names to try on the state's unclaimed property search, and the steps to claim.
- Who buys my oil?Who buys my oil and gas?The gatherers and buyers the Railroad Commission lists for your lease, and since when.
- Is my oil price fair?Operator price checkYour stub's oil price against what Texas buyers paid and WTI, with the gap in dollars; pick your lease to add your operator's reported price.
- Where is the land on my deed?Find the land on my deedType the section, block, survey or abstract number from your deed and see the land on a survey map, with its wells and permits.
- Who pays from this old company now?Old company, new payorFollow an old company's name changes and sales to the company that carries on today, with its owner relations desk.
- Why did I get several tax bills?Several mineral tax billsWhy each mineral tax bill is a separate account: lease, kind of interest or tract, with free protest deadline reminders.
- Was too much tax taken out?Severance tax checkCompare the tax on your stub with the Texas rate: 4.6% of oil, 7.5% of gas.
- Does my 1099 match my checks?1099 royalty reconcilerYour twelve checks against Box 2 of the 1099-MISC, with the missing check circled.
Looking up one word
Search the stub glossary
30 codes and terms from royalty stubs, each with a plain meaning and a source: BBL, MCF, NRI, ORRI, suspense, casinghead gas and the rest.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Where do I start if I just inherited mineral rights in Texas?
Start with the inherited minerals page, which walks through finding out who pays the lease and what paperwork operators ask for. Then read what a division order may contain and the guide to your rights as a royalty owner, which covers payment deadlines, interest and what a check stub must show.
Why did my royalty check go down?
A stub multiplies the lease's volume sold, the price and your decimal, then subtracts taxes and any deductions. A lower check means one of those moved, or the check covers a different month. Compare the volume with the Railroad Commission record, the price with the WTI or Henry Hub monthly average, and the decimal with your division order.
Where does the data behind these guides come from?
Production and disposition come from the Texas Railroad Commission, which runs two to three months behind and revises recent months. Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The law is quoted from the Texas statutes, and every guide lists its sources at the end.
Rather have us do the checking?
Upload a statement. We compare every month with the Railroad Commission record and give you the questions to ask.