What a stub is
An operator runs the wells, sells the oil and gas, and pays each owner a share. The stub, sometimes called a check detail or revenue statement, is the operator’s record of that payment. It is usually attached to the check or sent as a PDF when you are paid by direct deposit.
One stub can hold many lines: one for each lease, each product and each month. If you own in several wells, or the operator is catching up on an earlier month, the total on the check is the sum of all the lines. The lines are where the answers are.
Every box, explained
Operators format stubs differently, but they print the same eleven facts. The example below is made up. Read it from left to right: who you are, what was sold, your share, then the money.
Example Energy Operating LLC
Check date 2026-09-25 · Check 118204
Owner number
0044817
Your account number with this operator. Quote it in every letter.
Property
INTERSTATE 8-32 C
The lease the money comes from. Look for the Railroad Commission lease number too.
Sale month
Jul 2026
The month the oil or gas was sold, not the month you were paid. Payment follows one to three months later.
Product
Oil
Oil, gas, or liquids from the gas plant. Each has its own line.
Decimal
0.00097656
Your share of the whole lease. This number multiplies everything.
Volume
13.20 bbl
Your barrels or mcf. Some operators print the whole lease's volume instead, then apply your decimal in the next columns.
Price
$79.36
Dollars per barrel or per mcf. Compare it with WTI or Henry Hub for the month.
Gross
$1,047.55
Volume times price. Your share of the sale before anything comes out.
Taxes
$48.19
Severance tax: 4.6 percent of oil, 7.5 percent of gas in Texas.
Deductions
$0.00
Costs taken out of the sale price: gathering, compression, processing. Common on gas, unusual on oil.
Net
$999.36
What was paid for this line. The lines add up to the check.
Made-up figures. Your stub will order these differently, and some operators print fewer of them.
Three of these are worth a closer look, because most mistakes hide in them.
The sale month (3) is when the product was sold, not when you were paid. A check dated in September usually pays for July. If you see a month twice, or a month missing between two stubs, that is the first thing to ask about.
The decimal (5) should be the same on every line for the same lease, and should match your division order, the paper you signed when you first started receiving payments. Our guide to decimal interest shows how to rebuild it.
The volume (6) is either your share or the whole lease’s. Look at the column heading. If it is a tiny fraction of what the lease reports, it is your share. If it matches the lease total, the operator applies your decimal further along.
The math, with an example
Every line follows the same arithmetic. Take an oil line for a lease that sold 10,000 barrels in the month:
Oil, one month
Lease sales for the month10,000 bbl
Your decimal0.00097656
Your barrels: 10,000 × 0.000976569.77 bbl
Price paid$70.00 per bbl
Gross: 9.7656 × $70.00$683.59
Severance tax, 4.6 percent of oil−$31.44
Net, what this line pays$652.15
Gas works the same way with thousand cubic feet (mcf) and a price per mcf, and a tax of 7.5 percent. Gas lines often also carry deductions, and there may be a second gas line for the liquids the plant pulls out. Try your own numbers in the royalty calculator.
Five checks in ten minutes
- The decimal matches your division order. Find the division order or the deed and lease you received. If the two numbers differ in the fifth digit, ask why.
- The volume matches the state record. Find your lease in the Railroad Commission’s Production Data Query, or look it up here. Multiply the month’s oil sold by your decimal. Your stub should be within a few percent.
- The price follows the market. Compare the oil price with the WTI monthly average. The gap can be a few dollars and should stay steady from month to month. A gap that suddenly widens is a question.
- The tax is at the state rate. In Texas that is 4.6 percent of oil and 7.5 percent of gas. Use the severance tax check if the amount looks high.
- The timing is legal. Oil is due 60 days after the end of the sale month and gas 90 days, in Texas. See late payment interest.
Volume
Your stub: Barrels or mcf
Compare with: The lease's sales in the state record, times your decimal
Tax
Your stub: The tax column over the gross
Compare with: 4.6 percent of oil, 7.5 percent of gas
Timing
Your stub: Check date and sale month
Compare with: 60 days for oil, 90 for gas after month end
Abbreviations you will see
| Term | Means |
|---|---|
| BBL | Barrel of oil, 42 gallons |
| MCF | Thousand cubic feet of gas |
| MMBTU | Million British thermal units, the unit gas is often priced in |
| NGL | Natural gas liquids such as ethane and propane, sold from the gas plant |
| RI, ORRI, WI | Royalty interest, overriding royalty interest, working interest. Your stub says which one you own |
| Sev tax | Severance tax withheld and paid to the state for you |
| Gathering, compression, processing | Costs of moving and treating gas. See the guide on post-production deductions |
When to ask, and how
Call or write the owner relations department named on the stub, quote your owner number, and ask one thing at a time. A specific question gets a specific answer. For example:
The question to ask
Please send me the run tickets or the sales volume you used for the July 2026 oil sales on this lease, and the price index for that month.
Ask in writing, and keep a copy!
If the answer does not arrive within a month, write it down and send it again. Keep every stub. A mistake usually shows up as a pattern across several months, and the only way to see a pattern is to have the months side by side.