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Why is my royalty check lower?
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Your lease
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Texas oil lease · RRC 08-58035 · Midland County
Interstate 8-32 C
Operated by Diamondback E&P LLC. State record through Jul 2026.
Turns the percentages into dollars. Leave it blank to see each cause as a share of last check.
The sale month, not the day you were paid. A check that arrives in September is usually for a July sale.
From the state record · Interstate 8-32 C
What moved between Jun 2026 and Jul 2026
Each bar is a cause, as a share of last month's check. 100% is the check before.
The check before (Jun 2026)
100%
Oil volume
−1.2 pts
The state shows 1.6% less oil sold: 13,734 bbl in Jun 2026, 13,514 bbl in Jul 2026.
Oil price
−3.8 pts
WTI averaged $84.81 then and $80.46 now (−5.1%).
Gas volume
+0.4 pts
The state shows 1.4% more gas sold: 128,048 mcf, then 129,850 mcf.
Gas price
−2.1 pts
Henry Hub averaged $3.15 then and $2.89 now (−8.3%).
This check (Jul 2026)
93%
- Scale: 92% to 101%. The dashed lines mark where the check before and this check sit.
SourceTexas Railroad Commission Production Data Query, sold volumes for lease 08-58035; EIA monthly average WTI Cushing and Henry Hub. Net of Texas severance tax. Deductions are not in state data.
The verdict
Your Jul 2026 sale is 6.7% lower than Jun 2026.
Biggest cause: oil price. WTI averaged $84.81 then and $80.46 now (−5.1%).
Mostly the price. That is normal.
- Oil sold, state record
- 13,734 to 13,514 bbl−1.6%
- WTI Cushing
- $84.81 to $80.46−5.1%
- Gas sold, state record
- 128,048 to 129,850 mcf+1.4%
- Henry Hub
- $3.15 to $2.89−8.3%
The four reasons a royalty check goes down
- The lease sold less. Wells decline. The state reports what each lease sold every month, so this is the part we can read straight from the record.
- The price fell. Oil follows WTI and gas follows Henry Hub, with your operator’s own differences on top. Prices can move 5% in a month.
- More came off. Gathering, compression and processing fees on gas, and severance tax on both. See post-production deductions.
- Your share changed. A new decimal after a unit change, a new operator, or a payment held in suspense.
A fifth cause is timing: a month paid late, or two months on one check. The chart marks a month the state has no report for, and any change of operator.
How the split works
The tool takes each cause in turn. First it changes the volume and keeps last month’s price. Then it changes the price. What is left is deductions, your share and anything else. The steps always add up to the difference between the two checks.
The formula
- Volume effect
- (volume now − volume before) × price before × your decimal
- Price effect
- volume now × (price now − price before) × your decimal
- Deductions
- −(deductions now − deductions before)
- Your share
- (your share of the volume now − before) × price before
- Other
- what is left after the four above
From the state record alone, your decimal cancels out, so each cause can be shown as a share of last month's check.
What the tool cannot see
- The operator’s own price and deductions. They are on your stub, so use the two-stub mode for them.
- Plant products (natural gas liquids) from processed gas. The state does not report them.
- Adjustments for earlier months. They land on a later stub and show up as Other.
- The newest month or two. The state revises recent months as operators file.
If the answer here does not settle it, upload the statement. We compare every month against the state record and write the question for you.
Questions owners ask
Common questions
Short answers. Sources are at the end of the page.
Why did my royalty check go down this month?
Four things move a royalty check: how much oil or gas the lease sold, what it sold for, what was taken off, and your share of it. A well produces less every year, prices move with the market, and deductions can start or grow. This tool splits your change into those parts so you can see which one it was.
Is it normal for a royalty check to fall from month to month?
Yes. Wells decline, and oil and gas prices change every month. A drop that follows the state's volume and the market price is normal. A drop that is bigger than the volume and the price explain is the one worth a question.
Which month is the check for, the month I was paid or the month it was sold?
The month it was sold, which your stub calls the production or sale month. Texas requires oil royalty within 60 days after the end of the sale month and gas royalty within 90 days, so a check paid in September is normally for a July oil sale.
My operator changed. Why did my check change with it?
A new operator sets owners up from its own division orders, price contract and deduction schedule. Any of them can differ from the last operator's. Ask for the new division order, compare the decimal with the old one, and ask for the volume and price detail for the first months.
Where do the volumes and prices in this tool come from?
Volumes are what the operator reported to the Texas Railroad Commission as sold from the lease each month. Prices are the EIA monthly averages for WTI Cushing oil and Henry Hub gas. Your operator's own price can differ from those by a few dollars, which is why the stub mode takes your own price.
What if my check fell more than this tool explains?
Then something on your side changed: your decimal, the volume the operator paid on, a deduction, or an adjustment for an earlier month. Switch to your two stubs. The tool separates your share of the volume from the state's, and the part it cannot explain is shown as Other.
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