What's New at NARO-Texas
Royalty Owners Share Small Piece of Gasoline "Pie" Posted Tuesday, September 3, 2002 by NARO-TX
Over the last year, Americans have paid an average of $1.36 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. According to the Energy Information Administration the allocation of that $1.36 goes like this:
19 cents or 14% Distribution and marketing
22 cents or 16% Refining of crude oil
43 cents or 32% Federal, state and local taxes
51 cents or 38% Drilling, producing and shipping of crude oil, of which, royalty owners receive between 12.5% and 25%.
2002 Convention IS History! Posted Saturday, June 8, 2002 by NARO-TX
The 2002 NARO-Texas Convention at the La Mansion del Rio Hotel in San Antonio wound up on Friday with a passionate keynote speech from Raymond Plank, Founder and Chairman of Apache Corporation. Plank spoke for over an hour to an attentive audience of royalty owners and industry representatives about creating more transparency in energy markets. He denounced "round-trip trades" as "wash sales" while explaining that such stategies have been used by companies such as Enron and Dynegy to pump up revenue and increase volatility. Plank went on to say that volatility is not the friend of producers and royalty owners and increased volatility has caused a decrease in domestic exploration for natural gas at a time when the nation desperately needs a secure supply and a healthy industry.
Sponsors, Exhibitors Key to Successful Convention Posted Monday, June 3, 2002 by NARO-TX
The 2002 NARO-Texas Convention will be a success, in part, because of the support of industry sponsors and exhibitors. Convention attendees are urged to show their appreciation to those companies and individuals who make it possible, through sponsorships and exhibitor fees, to have an informative and affordable meeting for everyone. The list includes Apache Corporation, Burlington Resources, Inc., Chevron-Texaco, Conoco, DrillingInfo.com, Exxon-Mobil Corp., GNR Research Corporation, Houston Association of Division Order Analysts, Industry Consulting Group, Inc., Legacy Royalties, Ltd., Marathon Oil Company, NADOA, NARO, Oildex, OXY USA, Paydirt Gifts, Proven Concepts, Inc., Questa Software Systems, Inc., Royalty Management Services, Inc., Texas-St. Louis Land Company, Wells Fargo Bank Texas and XTO Energy, Inc.
NADOA, AAPL Accreditation Granted to NARO-Texas Convention Posted Friday, May 3, 2002 by NARO-TX
Certified Division Order Analysts (CDOA's) can earn CPE credits by attending the NARO-Texas Convention June 5-7 in San Antonio. After reviewing the program for the convention, the National Association of Division Order Analysts (NADOA) has granted 3 Core Credits and 7 Non-Core Credits for CDOA's that attend. Attendees should print the NADOA Affidavit of Attendance, also available on the Convention page of this site and submit it along with a copy of the convention program.
In addition, the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL) has granted 9.25 RLP credits and 9.25 CPL/ESA recertification credits for attendance. The AAPL Affidavit of Attendance is also available on the Convention page of this site.
Attendance at the NARO-Texas Convention also qualifies Certified Minerals Managers(CMM) for 7.0 credits toward recertification.
San Antonio Site of 2002 Convention Posted Monday, February 25, 2002 by NARO-TX
The 2002 NARO-Texas Convention is scheduled for June 5-7 at the La Mansion Del Rio Hotel in San Antonio. Make plans now to join us on the River Walk in the Alamo city.
Look for detailed information soon on this site. In the meantime,check out the La Mansion at their website. 1-800-292-7300 (ask for NARO-Texas Meeting rate) - $125/night + taxes. Call and reserve your room now.
Covert to Address PPROA Posted Sunday, February 10, 2002 by NARO-TX
Paul Covert, current President of NARO-Texas, will address the 73rd Annual Convention of the Panhandle Producers & Royalty Owners Association, May 7-8 in Amarillo. Covert will address the annual business meeting of PPROA at the end of Day 1. He will also present a workshop on royalty owner legislation that has been enacted since the last session of the Texas Legislature. For more information, check out PPROA's website.
ASU Senior Receives NARO-Texas Scholarship Posted Tuesday, December 18, 2001 by NARO-TX
Keisha Shelton has been awarded the NARO-Texas Scholarship at Angelo State University for the 2001-02 academic year. The Senior from Midland, Texas majors in Government.
NARO-Texas established a scholarship endowment at Angelo State University in San Angelo with proceeds from the NARO-Texas Convention that has been held annually on the ASU campus for the past 8 years. The endowment has grown to almost $40,000.00. The only criteria for receiving the scholarship is that the student be classified as a Junior or a Senior and not be the recipient of any other scholarship.
In his letter to NARO-Texas announcing the scholarship recipient, ASU Vice President for University Relations and Development Michael P. Ryan said, "For many students, the only hindrance to achieving their educational goals is monetary. Scholarships make the difference-both financially and in recognition of their academic abilities."
NARO-Texas Newsletter Now Online Posted Monday, December 17, 2001 by NARO-TX
NARO-Texas News, bi-monthly newsletter of NARO-Texas, is now available on the "Downloads" page of this site. Download requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free from Adobe’s website.
NARO-Texas members who wish to begin receiving NARO-Texas News electronically should notify us of their email address by contacting NARO-Texas. Receiving the newsletter electronically will save the association the cost of printing and postage, get the newsletter into members hands immediately, and decrease the amount of mail in members post boxes.
Members who do not wish to receive the newsletter electronically will continue to receive it by mail.
2001 NARO-Texas Convention Huge Success Posted Saturday, September 1, 2001 by NARO-TX
When Shelly Fitzgerald first started taking care of her grandfather’s mineral interests, she had no idea what she was doing. So she asked her grandfather for advice. “He told me to join NARO,” she said. “And so I did.”
Now Fitzgerald manages the mineral rights for 12 of her family members. All of the rights, now part of Extended Family Mineral Trust, are in Texas and Oklahoma. Fitzgerald manages the rights from her home in Hayden, Idaho.
She was one of more than 150 royalty owners who attended the NARO-Texas Convention held August 15-17 at the Houston Harte University Center on the Angelo State University campus in San Angelo.
The convention “fascinates me,” she said. “I haven’t been here in a couple of years, but I learn something every time I come.”
Fitzgerald and her family consolidated their mineral rights. Instead of each family member receiving small royalty checks, the family decided to consolidate their royalty interests so that the oil companies paying the royalties could send just one check.
“We feel it is very important to deal with fractionalization of our mineral interests within our own family,” Fitzgerald said. “Oil companies don’t have the time or energy to deal with a lot of small amounts. Small amounts can get lost in the shuffle and natural resources are something that should not be lost.”
Steve Mayer, NARO-Texas President, said the convention is a way to keep royalty owners up to date on developments in the oil & gas industry. “Fractionalization is a problem that must be dealt with,” he said. “Families need to come to grips with the fact that fractionalization is reducing the economic life of their producing properties and may be impeding exploration of their non-producing mineral interests.”
The convention featured talks on oil & gas technology, tax foreclosure sales, leasing & legal issues, Ad Valorem appraisals, Internet resources, and basic mineral management. “It’s also important for royalty owners to get together so they can interact with other royalty owners who may have experience in different areas of the business,” Mayer said. “The networking aspect of our convention is very important.”
Keynote addresses by U. S. Representative Charles Stenholm and State Representative Bob Turner stressed the importance of royalty owners being involved in the legislative process. “Government works better when grassroots people get involved,” Stenholm said. “That’s what NARO-Texas is all about; to make sure that those of us who represent you know your interests.”
“A voice is stronger when it comes from a large group,” said Turner. “You have to participate in the process. Representatives should be a reflection of the people they represent.”
The NARO-Texas Annual Meeting was highlighted by the election of a new slate of officers and directors for 2001/2002. Paul Blanton Covert of Leander was elected President and David P. Vinson of Tyler was elected Vice President. The slate of officers was rounded out by the election of Connie Eckhardt of Fredericksburg as Treasurer and Patricia Muir of Aledo as Secretary.
Mark Gresham of Wharton was elected as a new director and all other directors who were up for re-election were confirmed. Incoming President Paul Covert extended an invitation to any member who wished to serve on the Board of Directors or on a committee to come forward. “All associations need qualified members to serve, but often leaders don’t know who they are or that they are interested, until they come forward,” said Covert. “It is very important to have turnover on the Board so that new ideas have a chance to be heard.”
This is the 7th year for the NARO-Texas Convention to be held in San Angelo. Next year's meeting is expected to be in the Austin or San Antonio area, according to incoming President Paul Covert.
Stenholm Says Nation Close to Energy Plan Posted Saturday, September 1, 2001 by NARO-TX
The nation is closer to having a national energy policy than at anytime in its history, said Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-Tx).
Speaking to a luncheon meeting at the NARO-Texas annual meeting in San Angelo, August 13-17, Stenholm told 200 royalty owners and friends he supported nearly all elements of the Bush Energy Plan, but did not vote for the final bill because some of the tax provisions would have required dipping into the social security fund.
The Abilene, Texas Congressman said he was disappointed President Bush had mixed the budget with the energy plan. "I could not vote for dipping into social security funds." He said there was about a 5 percent chance of getting the bill, in its present form, passed out of the Senate this fall, but a 100 percent chance some version would be passed next year. "I don't see how the Senate can get it passed in such a short time, since they must also deal with appointments.
"The nation needs an energy policy for reasons of national security. I thought we would get an energy policy following Desert Storm, but the nation obviously did not see the relationship between energy and national security," Stenholm said.
He noted, however, that the energy problems in California may have given the nation a second chance. "The California situation may have opened some eyes." He said the time is also ripe to interject some environmental sensibility into the energy plan.
A conservative, Blue Dog Democrat Stenholm said he feels the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) should be opened to drilling along with the Coasts of Florida and California. "We need to drill where ever we can to meet the nation's shortfall of energy." He said Christy Todd Whitman, head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was the "right person in the right job at the right time."
Judge Explains In Solido Ruling Posted Saturday, September 1, 2001 by NARO-TX
Judge Leland W. Waters recently made landmark rulings that will become a roadblock for the bundled sale of oil and gas mineral interests in Texas. He noted those rulings to royalty owners at the NARO-Texas Convention in August.
The Gray County Judge ruled that only foreclosure and sale of interests in a single oil and gas lease still held by production is permissible, that suspense money paid to a high bidder is void, that redemption value is impossible to determine in bundled tax sales, more diligent searches are required in tax sales and foreclosure sales must not include any interest that has terminated or expired.
In explaining his rulings, Waters noted that according to Texas Property Code, tax liens exist only for the duration of an oil and gas lease and are unenforceable when the lease expires. He said the U.S. Supreme Court holds that there must be diligent inquiry in trying to locate the defendants of a tax sale. He also explained that suspense money couldn’t be sold to high bidders because, according to precedents, it does not attach to proceeds of the sale of minerals once they have been produced and sold. Oil and gas are realty only when in place and become personalty when produced and sold.
Judge Waters offered three precedents as to why leases cannot be sold in solido. He said what should have been a routine tax sale matter, became very complicated when inspected. He said a number of red flags were raised when the in solido case first came to his attention. Among them were: Are in solido sales permissible? How do you determine market value? How do you determine redemption value? How do you determine equitable division of excess proceeds of a sale? Was due diligence given to mineral owners? What about terminated leases? And, what about the money held in suspense?
Internet Will Revolutionize Mineral Business Posted Saturday, September 1, 2001 by NARO-TX
The internet is changing the world of mineral owners and managers at a speed not thought of just a few years ago, and those unable to adjust will be left behind, says Landman Alan Morgan CPL.
Speaking at the NARO-Texas annual meeting, Morgan said courthouse records are being scanned into computers at an exponential rate and that in 2-5 years nearly all land work will be done on line. He said complete abstracts are now being done entirely online at fraction of the time and cost that it would take for a landman to visit a courthouse.
Morgan says the internet will soon allow mineral owners and managers to access the following information from counties: property ownership, lease sales, drilling and production records, tax records, appraisal records, DMV records, birth, death, and marriage records.
He added that even aerial photos and topographic maps of a property could be obtained, and that legal and land forms for mineral management were available. Geological cross sections can be obtained from oiltrash.com.
"Research that once took days to accomplish in the court house will be done on the internet in a matter of hours, without ever leaving the office. One will simply go to a link called Texas Counties."
Royalty Owners Should Stay Current on Oil & Gas Technology Posted Saturday, September 1, 2001 by NARO-TX
The mineral owner who wants to know the value of his property tomorrow or five years down the road, and if it is being produced to its fullest potential would do best to keep up with oil and gas technology, says Scott Tinker.
Tinker, the Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, told mineral owners at the NARO-Texas meeting in San Angelo, that the intent of E&P technology is to produce as much as possible, at the highest price possible without damaging the reservoir. "It's up to the royalty owner to know how much his well or wells can produce."
Tinker said royalty checks will directly reflect how technology is applied to a field, and if a mineral owner should know what technology is available and applicable to know if his field is being well managed. "Management of a field can vary from not very good to pretty damn impressive. If you happen to be the lucky royalty owner of a well-managed field your royalty check will reflect higher production rates."
He noted that the University of Texas collects royalty from 2.1 million acres in West Texas, and utilizes two programs, STARR, a state program, and UlARI, a University program, to study and monitor the geologic and engineering potential of University Lands. He said properly applied technology could arrest decline curves and keep wells alive for decades. He said royalty owners must continually ask "how much, at what cost and what price."
Tinker said knowing the technological and geological potential of a producing property could money in the bank for royalty owners when negotiating terms for a lease or sale.
|
