#Accurate Production Data Is the Foundation of Every Royalty Payment
Every dollar on your royalty check traces back to a production volume. If that volume is wrong, the payment is wrong — regardless of whether the price, deductions, and decimal interest are correct. This makes production verification the single most important audit step for any mineral owner or non-operated working interest holder.
The good news is that you do not have to take your operator's word for it. State regulatory commissions in every major oil and gas producing state require operators to report production monthly. These filings are public record, searchable online, and free to access. By cross-referencing the volumes on your check stub against the volumes reported to state regulators, you can identify discrepancies that may indicate errors — or worse, systematic underpayment.
This article walks through the specific databases available in the six largest producing states, explains what to compare and how to interpret differences, and provides a step-by-step process for verifying your production data.
#State-by-State Production Databases
Each producing state maintains its own regulatory agency and production reporting system. The databases below are the primary sources for verifying operator-reported volumes.
#Texas — Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC)
The Railroad Commission of Texas is the oldest oil and gas regulatory body in the country and oversees all upstream production in the state. Operators file production data monthly on Form PR (Production Report), which reports oil and gas volumes by lease and well.
Production data is searchable through the RRC's Production Data Query system at rrc.texas.gov. You can search by API number, operator name, lease name, or district. Texas production data typically becomes available two to three months after the production month — so January production will generally appear in the database by March or April.
Texas assigns a unique six-digit lease number in addition to the 14-digit API number. Both are useful search keys. If you own interests in a pooled unit, the unit's production may be reported under a single lease number that differs from your individual tract's legal description.
#Oklahoma — Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC)
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission regulates oil and gas activity statewide. Operators file monthly gross production reports electronically, and production data is accessible through the OCC's online well records system.
Search by API number to pull well-level production. Oklahoma's system reports gross oil (barrels), gross gas (MCF), and gross water (barrels). The OCC also maintains well completion reports and spacing orders that can help you verify whether your well is part of a larger unit.
#New Mexico — Oil Conservation Division (OCD)
New Mexico's Oil Conservation Division operates under the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD). Operators file monthly production on the C-115 form, which reports oil, gas, and water volumes by well.
Production data is available through the OCD Imaging system (OCDIMAGE), which provides scanned images of filed reports as well as searchable production data. The system is searchable by API number, operator, or pool name. New Mexico is the second-largest oil producing state in the country, with the Permian Basin's Delaware sub-basin driving substantial production growth, so verifying New Mexico wells is increasingly important for mineral owners.
#North Dakota — Department of Mineral Resources (NDIC)
North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Division, regulates all Bakken and Three Forks production in the Williston Basin. Monthly production reports are filed by operators and made available through the department's online database at dmr.nd.gov.
The system allows searches by API number, well name, operator, or field. North Dakota's database is among the more user-friendly state systems, offering downloadable production histories and well file documents including completion reports, sundry notices, and scout tickets.
#Wyoming — Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC)
The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission maintains production data for all wells in the state, covering major producing basins including the Powder River, Wind River, Green River, and Big Horn.
Production data is searchable at wogcc.wyo.gov. The system supports searches by API number, well name, operator, or location. Wyoming's database includes monthly oil, gas, and water production as well as well status information that can help you determine whether a well has been shut in, temporarily abandoned, or plugged.
#Colorado — Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC)
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission oversees production in the DJ Basin, Piceance Basin, and other Colorado formations. Production reports are filed monthly and made available through the COGCC's online database at cogcc.state.co.us.
The system is searchable by API number, facility name, operator, or location. Colorado's database also includes inspection reports, spill/release data, and well status information.
#What to Compare: Check Stub vs. State Report
Once you have pulled production data from the appropriate state database, you need to know what to look for. Here are the key data points to compare against your check stub or royalty statement.
Gross oil production (barrels). The state report shows total oil produced from the well or lease for a given month. Your check stub should reflect a volume that is reasonably close to this number, adjusted for BS&W (basic sediment and water) deductions. A small difference — typically one to five percent — is normal and reflects the removal of water and sediment from stock tank volumes before sales measurement.
Gross gas production (MCF). State reports show total gas produced, measured in MCF (thousand cubic feet). Compare this to the gas volume on your check stub. If your gas is processed at a plant, the check stub volume may reflect residue gas after shrinkage — this will be lower than the gross wellhead volume reported to the state.
Condensate and NGL volumes. Some states and operators report condensate separately from crude oil. If your well produces condensate, confirm it appears on your statement and is priced appropriately — condensate pricing differs from crude oil pricing.
Disposal and injection volumes. Water and gas injected for disposal or enhanced recovery should not appear as sales production. If the state report shows injection volumes, verify they are excluded from your sales volumes.
Gas flared or vented. Flared and vented gas is reported to state commissions but should not be included in your sales volumes. However, if the state report shows both flared gas and marketed gas but your check stub shows zero gas revenue, the operator may have incorrectly classified all gas as flared.
Number of producing days. State reports often include the number of days a well produced during the month. If a well was shut in for part of the month, production should be proportionally lower. A full month of production with unusually low volumes may indicate a metering or allocation issue rather than a legitimate decline.
#Common Discrepancies and Why They Occur
Not every difference between your check stub and a state report is an error. Understanding the legitimate reasons for discrepancies will help you distinguish between normal variances and genuine problems.
#Timing Differences
This is the most common source of confusion. State reports use the production month — the calendar month when oil or gas was physically produced. Your check stub may use the sales month — the month when production was sold to a purchaser and revenue was received. There is typically a one to two month lag between production and sales, and an additional one to two months before the operator disburses your royalty. When comparing data, align the production month on the state report with the corresponding production month on your check stub, not the payment date.
#Allocation Adjustments
On multi-well pads or in commingled production scenarios, total production from a shared tank battery or gathering system is allocated back to individual wells based on well tests or metering. These allocation percentages can change when new well tests are performed or when a new well comes online. If your well's volumes shift without an obvious operational cause, an allocation adjustment is a likely explanation — but it is worth confirming that the new allocation is reasonable.
#Prior-Period Adjustments
Operators routinely file amended production reports with state commissions when they discover errors in previously submitted data. These corrections appear as prior-period adjustments (PPAs) on your check stub, either adding to or subtracting from your current payment. PPAs are legitimate, but they should be clearly disclosed with enough detail to identify which production month is being corrected and why.
#Net vs. Gross Reporting
State commissions require gross wellhead production. Your check stub typically shows net volumes — production after subtracting BS&W for oil, or after plant processing for gas. It is normal for check stub volumes to be lower than state-reported volumes. The concern arises when the gap is larger than expected: BS&W deductions above five percent for oil should be investigated, and gas shrinkage above 25 to 30 percent may warrant a review of the plant statement.
#Unit vs. Lease Reporting
If your well is part of a spacing or pooling unit, the operator may report production to the state at the unit level while your check stub allocates production to your specific tract based on your participation factor. The total unit production times your tract's participation factor should approximate the volume on your check stub. Discrepancies here often trace to an incorrect participation factor in the operator's division order system.
#Step-by-Step Verification Process
Follow this process to systematically verify production volumes across your interests.
Step 1: Identify the API number for each well. Your check stub or division order should include the API number — a unique 14-digit identifier assigned to every well in the United States. This is your primary search key in every state database. If your check stub does not list the API number, request it from the operator or search the state database by lease name and operator.
Step 2: Pull 12 to 24 months of production data from the appropriate state database. A single month tells you very little. You need enough history to establish a production trend and identify anomalies. Download or record monthly oil, gas, and water volumes for each well.
Step 3: Align timing between production month and sales month. Map each production month to the corresponding line item on your check stub. Most operators identify the production month somewhere on the statement, though the format varies. If you cannot determine the production month, request clarification from the operator.
Step 4: Compare gross volumes and allow for reasonable adjustments. For oil, expect check stub volumes to be one to five percent below state-reported gross due to BS&W deductions. For gas, the difference depends on whether your gas is processed — unprocessed pipeline-quality gas should be close to gross, while processed gas may show 15 to 25 percent shrinkage from NGL extraction.
Step 5: Calculate expected revenue. Multiply the reported volume by the applicable price and your net revenue interest (NRI). Compare the result to your actual payment. The formula is straightforward: Volume x Price x NRI = Expected Revenue. If your check also reflects deductions for taxes, transportation, or processing, subtract those to arrive at an expected net payment.
Step 6: Flag any month where the variance exceeds five to ten percent. Small variances are normal. Persistent or large variances — especially those that consistently run in one direction — indicate a systemic issue. A five percent underpayment on every check for two years adds up to real money.
Step 7: For persistent discrepancies, request the run statement. The run statement (also called a run ticket or pipeline statement) is the purchaser's record of the volume and quality of oil or gas actually received. It is the most authoritative record of what was sold. If your check stub volumes do not match the state report and the operator cannot explain the difference, the run statement will clarify whether the problem is in measurement, allocation, or accounting.
#Tools and Tips for Ongoing Monitoring
Production verification is not a one-time exercise. Errors can appear at any time — after a well workover, an operator change, a new gas processing agreement, or a simple data entry mistake. Here are practical tips for staying on top of your production data.
Use bulk download and API access where available. Several state databases offer bulk data exports or programmatic API access. If you own interests in dozens or hundreds of wells, manually searching one well at a time is impractical. Texas, North Dakota, and Colorado all offer data downloads that can be loaded into a spreadsheet for systematic comparison.
Track production trends month over month. Production on a conventional well declines gradually following a hyperbolic curve. A sudden drop — say 40 percent in a single month without a corresponding shut-in — could indicate a mechanical issue, a metering failure, or a reporting error. Conversely, a sudden increase without a workover or restimulation is also worth investigating.
Monitor the gas-to-oil ratio (GOR). On a well that produces both oil and gas, the GOR should remain relatively stable over time. A dramatic shift in GOR without an operational explanation may indicate a metering problem on either the oil or gas side, or an allocation error that shifted volumes between products.
Watch for wells that go to zero. If a well's production suddenly drops to zero, check for regulatory orders (the state may have issued a shut-in order), operator changes (a new operator may not have updated revenue disbursement), or mechanical failures. A well showing zero production on the state report but still appearing on your check stub — or vice versa — is a clear discrepancy.
Compare across wells in the same unit or field. If you own interests in multiple wells operated by the same company in the same area, production trends should be broadly consistent. One well showing dramatically different behavior from its offset wells deserves investigation.
#Related Reading
- Common Operator Payment Errors
- A 5-Point Manual Reconciliation Checklist
- Royalty Underpayment Detection Guide
#Let AGR Automate the Verification
Manual production verification works, but it does not scale. Pulling data from six different state databases, aligning timing, adjusting for BS&W and shrinkage, and tracking trends across dozens of wells is a significant time commitment — and the effort must be repeated every month.
AGR's reconciliation platform was built to automate this entire process. We connect directly to state regulatory databases, pull production data automatically, align it with your royalty statement data, and flag discrepancies that exceed configurable thresholds. When a variance is detected, the system identifies the likely cause — timing, allocation, shrinkage, or a genuine error — so you can act quickly.
See how AGR automates production verification and reconciliation.
For more on common payment errors beyond volume discrepancies, see our guide: Common Operator Payment Errors: Volume Discrepancies & Unit Conversion Mistakes. And for a broader overview of identifying underpayments across your portfolio, read our Royalty Underpayment Detection Guide.