West Virginia royalty owners will want to pay attention to what’s going on up in Pennsylvania.

For years, Chesapeake and other oil and gas producers have been deducting costs from royalty owners’ checks in large amounts.  Some of those deductions have been so large that some royalty owners have gotten negative amounts on their check stubs.  In other words, the royalty owners have ended up owing the company money.  Everybody knows that’s not right.

Up in Wyoming County, PA, over 200 people showed up for a town meeting to discuss the problem a couple weeks ago.

Discussions revolved around how to force the companies to pay a reasonable royalty.  Some suggestions included legislation, forcing the companies into arbitration, and organizing at a grass-roots level.

Chesapeake took a lot of leases and drilled a lot of wells in West Virginia at one point.  Any West Virginia royalty owners who have seen enormous deductions from their royalty checks should be aware that taking deductions is not fair, or legal, in West Virginia.  You can do something about it.

If you need help with enormous deductions taken from your royalty check, give the office a call at 304-473-1403 and set up a time to discuss your situation with one of our staff.