Royalty Payments Didn’t Match the Owner’s Records. How a North Dakota Claim Was Resolved
A case about reviewing the agreement, production statements, and disputed deductions before negotiating payment.
The questionWhat can mineral owners do when royalty checks shrink because of deductions?
Illustrative example
WILLISTON, N.D. — A family that owns mineral rights near Williston has recovered $265,000 in underpaid royalties from an oil producer.
Their checks had shrunk even as the wells' reported production held steady.
The royalties were a large share of the family's retirement income.
Teravelle Law compared the family's lease, which barred most post-production deductions, with five years of check stubs and state production data. The firm found deductions for gathering and processing that the lease did not allow.
The producer paid $265,000 in back royalties and agreed to stop the deductions.
Claims older than the statute of limitations were not recovered.
Royalty disputes often turn on the lease's deduction language, which varies from one lease to the next.
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