Royalty

More than 114 Bcf of natural gas was sold to 10 energy companies in the latest royalty-in-kind (RIK) sale conducted by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Services (MMS), the agency said last Monday.

More than 114 Bcf of natural gas was sold to 10 energy companies in the latest royalty-in-kind (RIK) sale conducted by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Services (MMS), the agency said Monday.

A skeleton crew of six Minerals Management Services (MMS) employees from the New Orleans regional office is operating out of the Interior Department’s Minerals Royalty Management office in Houston, and is responsible for compiling the estimates on shut-in oil and natural gas production and damages to production platforms, pipelines and other structures in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf of Mexico.

Dominion will receive $424.4 million in cash for a fixed-term overriding royalty interest in more than 2,900 producing natural gas wells across the United States under a volumetric production payment (VPP) with UBS Investment Bank that was announced Friday.

Dominion will receive $424.4 million in cash for a fixed-term overriding royalty interest in more than 2,900 producing natural gas wells across the United States under a volumetric production payment (VPP) with UBS Investment Bank that was announced Friday.

Canada’s Stoney First Nation chiefs threatened Tuesday to stop renewing leases for oil and gas companies that operate on their lands unless a Canadian agency collects from the companies more than C$10 million (US$6.4 million) they allege their tribes are owed in royalties. The gas-rich fields located on the Stoney lands include Shell Canada’s Jumping Pound field and the Wildcat Hills field of Petro-Canada. Both companies said Tuesday they would pay their share of royalties, but want the government to resolve the issue.

Shell Oil has will pay the state of Alabama $27 million plus another $6.4 million in legal fees to settle accusations the company underpaid natural gas royalties for drilling in state waters. Shell denied any wrongdoing.

The oil and natural gas industry scored a “major victory” this month when the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Department of Interior (DOI) does not have unfettered authority to collect back royalties from producers, but rather is restricted by the statute of limitations that governs all government contract claims.

The oil and natural gas industry scored a “major victory” this month when the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Department of Interior (DOI) does not have unfettered authority in collecting back royalties from producers, but rather is restricted by the statute of limitations that governs all government contract claims.