Royalty

Alberta has gained a profit advantage in attracting drilling and will keep the edge when oil and natural gas prices rise, according to a review of royalty revisions that take effect in 2017.

Talisman Energy USA Inc. is being sued by oil and natural gas royalty owners with interests in the Eagle Ford Shale for allegedly manipulating production volumes by as much as 20-30%.

Roughly 700 people attended a town hall meeting on Wednesday in Bradford County, PA, where they were encouraged to contact state lawmakers and show their support for legislation that would help ensure minimum royalties for landowners with oil and gas leases. The county is one of the state’s top producers. The Bradford County Commissioners organized the meeting after voting to spend $15,000 for a public relations campaign to tell how landowners in the area are being cheated out of royalty payments (see Shale Daily,Sept. 9). Wilmot Township, which is also in Bradford County, passed a resolution this month to limit natural gas production over the post-production deductions that are reportedly lowering royalty checks there (see Shale Daily,Sept. 7). Lawmakers have tried but failed for years to pass legislation that would clarify the state’s Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act of 1979, which sets forth the minimum payment to landowners. The statute does not address post-production costs and how they should be factored into royalty payments. The latest legislation, HB 1391, remains stuck in committee (see Shale Daily,June 26, 2015).

After more than a year-long investigation that involved hundreds of landowners and industry cooperation, Pennsylvania Attorney General (AG) Kathleen Kane’s office said Wednesday it has filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy Corp. and its affiliates for deceptive business practices.

A group of U.S. oil and gas producers has asked the Texas Supreme Court to reconsider a 5-4 decision against Chesapeake Energy Corp. in a natural gas royalties lawsuit concerning leases in the Barnett Shale.

Republican lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have renewed their push to shield royalty owners in the state from post-production costs by reintroducing a bill to guarantee payment of the statutory minimum of 12.5% of the value of oil and gas produced under leases.

Republican lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have renewed their push to shield royalty owners in the state from post-production costs by reintroducing a bill to guarantee payment of the statutory minimum of 12.5% of the value of oil and gas produced under leases.

The royalty rate to drill for natural gas and oil on U.S. lands is half the rate charged by most states' private landowners and much less…

The royalty rate to drill for natural gas and oil on U.S. lands is half the rate charged by most states’ private landowners and much less than the rate charged to drill in the offshore, causing millions to be lost in revenue, a review by a progressive group has found.