Landowners sometimes lease their land to companies that want to extract the oil or gas underneath it. They are paid in royalties, or a portion of the value of the oil or gas extracted. It can be difficult for mineral owners to get accurate information pertaining to their royalties or to get their royalties paid on time. The complaint for this class action alleges that XTO Energy, Inc. does not obey Montana and North Dakota state laws requiring interest to be paid to mineral owners when royalties are not paid on time.
Montana and North Dakota both have laws specifying how soon royalties must be paid after marketing extracted gas or oil. Both require operators to pay mineral owners statutory interest on those royalties if they fail to pay the royalties on time.
Montana law requires that oil and gas royalties that are not paid on time “must bear interest at the maximum rate of interest authorized … from the date due until paid.”
North Dakota law is similar, but with an added stipulation. If royalties are not paid on the date they are due, “the operator shall pay interest on the unpaid royalties, without the requirement that the mineral owner or the mineral owner’s assignee request the payment of interest, at the rate of eighteen percent per annum until paid…”
According to the complaint, XTO does not pay mineral owners the interest they’re owed automatically; it withholds the interest until mineral owners demand it.
Plaintiff Fredericksburg Royalty, Ltd. owns mineral rights to wells in both Richland County, Montana and McKenzie County, North Dakota, both operated by XTO. The complaint provides examples of royalties from each well that were not paid by the due date and, when finally paid, did not include the interest due.
Two classes have been defined for this action:
Class I, the Montana Class is all persons or entities who own leases for mineral interests in Montana wells who received late royalty payments from XTO for oil or gas from the wells and whose payments did not include the statutory interest required by law.
Class II, the North Dakota Class, is all persons or entities who own leases for mineral interests in North Dakota wells who received late royalty payments from XTO for oil or gas from the wells and whose payments did not include the 18% interest required by law.
The two counts are breach of statutory obligation to pay interest under each state’s law.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Royalties
Most Recent Case Event
XTO Energy Interest on Late Royalty Payments MT and ND Wells Complaint
October 26, 2020
Landowners sometimes lease their land to companies that want to extract the oil or gas underneath it. They are paid in royalties, or a portion of the value of the oil or gas extracted. It can be difficult for mineral owners to get accurate information pertaining to their royalties or to get their royalties paid on time. The complaint for this class action alleges that XTO Energy, Inc. does not obey Montana and North Dakota state laws requiring interest to be paid to mineral owners when royalties are not paid on time.
XTO Energy Interest on Late Royalty Payments MT and ND Wells ComplaintCase Event History
XTO Energy Interest on Late Royalty Payments MT and ND Wells Complaint
October 26, 2020
Landowners sometimes lease their land to companies that want to extract the oil or gas underneath it. They are paid in royalties, or a portion of the value of the oil or gas extracted. It can be difficult for mineral owners to get accurate information pertaining to their royalties or to get their royalties paid on time. The complaint for this class action alleges that XTO Energy, Inc. does not obey Montana and North Dakota state laws requiring interest to be paid to mineral owners when royalties are not paid on time.
XTO Energy Interest on Late Royalty Payments MT and ND Wells Complaint