Payment question
How to review a Colorado oil and gas royalty check
A royalty statement combines title assumptions, a payment decimal, product volumes, prices, taxes, deductions, and timing. Reviewing it means separating those components before deciding something is wrong.
Short answer
Match the statement to the correct well and period, compare its production context with ECMC’s official records, trace the decimal back to the division order and lease, and document any unexplained difference for the payer or a professional.
Start with a Weld County addressIdentify exactly what was paid
Capture the payer, owner number, check date, production month, well name, API or property number, product, gross volume, your decimal, price, taxes, deductions, and net amount. Do not combine rows from different wells or production months.
Statements use company-specific labels. Preserve the original statement and make a separate normalized table instead of writing over it.
Compare production carefully
Use ECMC’s official production portal to identify the state-reported well and month. ECMC volumes are regulatory production data—not your purchaser’s sales statement, check calculation, or guarantee of payment timing.
Differences may reflect sales timing, allocation, product handling, adjustments, multiple wellbores, reporting revisions, or a mismatch in the well you selected. Record the difference; do not guess the cause.
Trace the decimal and deductions to their documents
Compare the payment decimal with the signed division order and any later owner-change notice. Then locate the lease or other instrument governing royalty language, post-production costs, taxes, pooling, and amendments. The decimal is not independently verifiable from a statement alone.
If the documents do not show how the payer reached its decimal, request the title or calculation support it is willing to provide and keep the response with your packet.
Turn a concern into a reproducible question
A useful discrepancy packet identifies the exact line, expected source, observed value, difference, and requested explanation. Examples include an unknown well, unexplained decimal change, missing month, duplicate adjustment, unfamiliar deduction, or legal description that does not match your records.
RoyaltyBook can assemble the well, production, order, lease, and statement trail. Contract interpretation, title disputes, and legal demands should go to a qualified professional.
Common questions
Questions owners ask next
Should my check volume equal ECMC production?
Not necessarily. ECMC reports regulatory production; a royalty statement may reflect sales timing, allocation, products, adjustments, and purchaser accounting.
Can I verify my decimal from the check stub alone?
No. The decimal depends on title, tract participation, lease terms, and other documents outside the statement.
What is the best first question to send the payer?
Identify one exact statement line and ask for the source or calculation supporting that value. Specific, reproducible questions are easier to resolve.
Reviewed August 9, 2026. Official sources are linked in context. Verify the current source before making a consequential decision.