Reading your check stub

Decimal, deductions, and the interest the operator owes when it pays late.

A royalty check stub is a small spreadsheet. Once you can read it, you can tell whether you are being paid correctly — and the plat tells you whether you are being paid at all.

The columns

Column	What it is	Check it against
Property / lease	The lease or unit the well belongs to	The lease number on the plat's well card
Production month	The month the oil or gas was sold	The plat's monthly bars
Product	Oil, gas, condensate, NGLs	A gas well should show gas and condensate; an oil well oil and casinghead gas
Volume and price	Gross barrels or mcf, and the price per unit	Volume against the Commission's reported production
Your decimal	Your share	Your division order, and the arithmetic in our division-order guide
Deductions	Gathering, compression, treating, transportation, taxes	Your lease: a cost-free royalty clause forbids most of them

Three things that go wrong

Deductions on a cost-free royalty. Common, and recoverable.
A wrong decimal. Usually traced to a misread deed or heirship.
Wells missing. The plat shows every producing well touching your tract; the stub should show every one you have an interest in.

Operators that pay late without a lawful reason owe interest under Chapter 91 of the Natural Resources Code. It is rarely paid unless asked for.

Send a photo of a stub on the royalty check page and we will read it with you.

Bring it to a landman

Send a photo of the document this guide is about and we will read it with you — free, within two business days.

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