Free check
Is my oil price fair?
The production or sale month on your stub. A check that arrives in September is usually for a July sale.
The price per barrel your stub prints for that month.
Turns the gap into dollars on your check.
Your lease(optional)
Shows what the state says the lease sold that month.
Leave it empty if you only want the price check.
The price check
$6.86 under WTI, wider than our usual range
WTI Cushing averaged $80.46 in Jul 2026. Your stub shows $73.60, which is 8.5% under the average.
On 12.60 barrels that is $86.44 less than a WTI-priced check.
Ask what the buyer paid, and who the buyer was.
This is the sample stub
Where the gap falls
Four bands, from above WTI to a gap worth asking about
The bands are our rule of thumb, not a state rule. A gap reflects the oil’s quality, the cost of getting it to a refinery and local supply and demand.
- More than $5 underYou
- $1 to $5 under
- At WTI, or within $1 under
- Above WTI
Your price against the last 24 months
WTI averaged $80.46 in Jul 2026
The line is the monthly WTI Cushing average. The red circle is the price on your stub, in the month you sold the oil.
SourceEIA, WTI Cushing spot price, monthly average. Your price is what you typed.
If the gap looks wide, ask the operator
- What price did the oil sell for, and who bought it?
- What is that price net of: quality, trucking, a marketing fee?
- Is the same cost also taken as a deduction on my stub?
How the gap is worked out
Your stub prints a price per barrel. WTI Cushing is the benchmark price for U.S. crude, and the EIA publishes its average for every month. The gap is the difference.
The formula
- Gap
- your stub price − the WTI monthly average
- Gap, in percent
- gap ÷ the WTI average
- On your check
- gap × your barrels
- Band
- above or within $1 under: close. $1 to $5 under: usual. More than $5 under: ask.
The bands are our rule of thumb. The EIA says the differential comes from quality, transportation and regional supply and demand, so a lease's gap moves with all three.
When the gap is wide
- Ask what the oil sold for. The operator knows the buyer and the price. A stub price can be that price less charges.
- Look at the deduction lines. If the price is already net of trucking and trucking is deducted again, the same cost was taken twice. The deductions guide shows which lines to compare.
- See whether it is new. The check-drop diagnostic shows whether the gap widened between two checks, which points at a change in buyer or contract.
The price is one line of the stub. Upload a statement and we compare the price, the volume and the deductions with the state record.
Questions owners ask
Common questions
Short answers. Sources are at the end of the page.
Is the oil price on my royalty stub fair?
Compare it with the WTI average for the month the oil was sold. Your price will usually be a little under WTI, because WTI is a price at Cushing, Oklahoma, for a specific grade of oil and your oil is sold in Texas at the lease or nearby. A gap of a few dollars is common. A gap much wider than that is a reason to ask the operator what the oil sold for.
Why is my oil price lower than WTI?
The Energy Information Administration says a crude's price differs from the benchmark by an agreed differential that reflects quality, such as density and sulfur content, the cost of transportation from the production area to refineries, and regional and global supply and demand. All three can put a Texas lease's price under WTI.
How big a gap is normal?
There is no state rule, so the bands here are ours. Within $1 of WTI, or above it, we call close. From $1 to $5 under is the range quality and trucking usually explain. More than $5 under is where our audit starts asking questions. An operator can have a good reason for a wide gap, and asking is how you find out.
What is a posted price?
The price an oil purchaser publishes for a grade of crude at a location. Operators often sell at a posted price or at a formula tied to WTI. When your stub price sits well under the WTI average, ask which posted price or formula the sale used and who bought the oil.
Which month's WTI should I compare?
The month the oil was sold, which your stub calls the production or sale month, not the month you were paid. The tool uses the EIA calendar-month average. A buyer can average over a different window, so treat a gap of a dollar or so as noise.
Can my operator take trucking out of the price and also deduct it?
Whether costs can come off your royalty depends on your lease. What is worth asking is whether the price on the stub is already net of trucking or quality and the same cost is also listed as a deduction. If both are there, the cost has been counted twice.
Split a drop in your check into price, volume and deductions
Free check
Rather have us check the statement?
Upload it. We compare every month with the Railroad Commission record and give you the questions to ask.