Do I have money in escrow?

Do I have money in escrow?

If you have gas wells on or near your property and aren’t receiving royalty payments, you may have money in the Virginia Gas and Oil Board’s escrow fund. Here’s how to find out:

1.) Using the Herald Courier’s database, select the name of the gas unit where you own mineral rights from the dropdown menu under Unit ID. Select the last four digits of the Virginia Gas and Oil Board docket number from the menu under VGOB ID. Then select an accounting period.

2.) That search takes you to a link to the account corresponding to the gas unit. By clicking on it, you can see the value at the beginning of the month, any deposits, interest earned or lost, withdrawals, and the value at the end of the month.

3.) Each individual account in escrow may contain royalties belonging to one or more owners. To figure out what your share of the account is, consult paperwork you should have received from the gas company operating the well.

4.) The key document is called a “supplemental order,” and it lists the names of owners whose royalties should be paid into escrow. This information is contained in Exhibit E, which also lists each owner’s acreage within a state-defined gas unit. This acreage is the basis for how gas operators determine what to pay into escrow.

5.) If you do not have a supplemental order, you can find this information at the Virginia Division of Gas and Oil in Lebanon, Va.

The escrow account holding my royalties isn’t receiving payments. Why is that?

There are multiple reasons why an account may not receive royalties:

1.) The paperwork required for royalties to be escrowed has not yet been filed with the Virginia Division of Gas and Oil.

2.) The original wells corresponding to the account have been swallowed up into a larger gas unit, and a separate escrow account is now receiving royalty payments for those wells.

3.) There is occasionally a lag of a month or two in gas operators making payments into escrow.

4.) The wells corresponding to the account are no longer producing gas.

5.) To find out if the wells where you have an interest are producing gas, use the DGO’s Data Information System.

6.) Select “Monthly Gas Production By Well,” and type in the name of the gas unit next to the field for “Filter File Number.” Click on the pink tab below to find records for the gas unit.

7.) Select a specific well (there may be several in the same unit) and the period of production you want to see, and click on one of the pink tabs at the bottom of the page to access the data as an Excel file or PDF.

The escrow account holding my royalties shows a negative interest value. Why is that?

In recent months, the Virginia Gas and Oil Board’s conservative investment policy has meant the account servicing fees charged by the bank have exceeded the interest earned from the escrow fund’s deposits. This has resulted in negative interest income.

How can I collect money from escrow?

If you have money in escrow, it means that a gas operator has not located you, or that your ownership of coalbed methane gas is in dispute. Virginia law provides for two ways of collecting royalties from coalbed methane:

1.) You can sue the other party that also claims it owns coalbed methane.

2.) You can negotiate to split the royalties with the other party.

3.) Once you have a court order or have reached a split agreement, you can petition the Virginia Gas and Oil Board to disburse your royalties from escrow.