Bravo Arkoma Interest on Late Oil and Gas Payments Oklahoma Class Action

Oil and gas well companies enter into leases that allow them to take oil or gas out of land owned by others. In exchange, they pay the owners a portion of the proceeds from the oil or gas taken from the well. The complaint for this class action alleges that Bravo Arkoma, LLC does not always pay owners on time, and when it does not, it also does not pay the interest required by law on late payments.

The class for this action is all persons or entities (1) who received payments that were late under the PRSA from Bravo Arkoma or its designee for oil and gas proceeds from Oklahoma wells, or (2) whose proceeds were escheated to a government entity by Bravo Arkoma, and (3) whose payments or escheated proceeds did not include the interest required by the PRSA. The class does not include those who are excluded, such as parties related to Bravo Arkoma and agencies, departments, or instrumentalities of the US federal or Oklahoma state governments.

The plaintiff in this action, McKnight Realty Company, is an owner with interests in the Stroehmer-1 oil and gas well in Pittsburgh county in the state of Oklahoma.

Bravo Arkoma, the complaint says, operates the well there and is supposed to pay McKnight “oil-and-gas proceeds pursuant to leases or pooling orders.”

Oklahoma has a Production Revenue Standards Act (PRSA) that governs such arrangements. The complaint quotes it as saying, “Proceeds from the sale of oil or gas production from an oil or gas well shall be paid to persons legally entitled thereto … commencing not later that six (6) months after the date of first sale, and … thereafter not later than the last day of the second succeeding month after the end of the month within which such production is sold.”

This creates the due date for such payments. However, the PRSA also includes a provision for when such payments are not made on time. The complaint quotes it as saying that those who did not pay the proceeds on time must pay interest on “proceeds from the sale of oil or gas production or some potion of such proceeds [that] are not paid prior to the end of the applicable time periods provided” by the law.

The interest on the late payments is automatically due. The party whose payments were late, and who is thus owed interest, does not have to make a specific request for the interest. The complaint alleges, “Compliance with the PRSA is not optional, and the statute contains no demand requirement before an owner is entitled to statutory interest.”

In this case, the complaint alleges, Bravo Arkoma does not pay the required interest to McKnight when it makes its late payments. The complaint contends that it pays the interest only to owners who specifically ask for the interest to be paid.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: News
Tags: Failure to Pay Interest Due, Late Payment Fees, Oil and gas, Royalty Payments