DALLAS, May 20, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Argent Trust Company, as Trustee of the Permian
Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT) ("Permian" or the "Trust") today
declared a cash distribution to the holders of its units of
beneficial interest of $0.020052 per
unit, payable on June 14, 2024, to
unit holders of record on May 31,
2024. The distribution does not include proceeds from the
Waddell Ranch properties for the reasons described in more detail
below.
This month's distribution decreased
from the previous month due mainly to the
omission of proceeds from the Waddell Ranch properties and, for the
Texas Royalty Properties, lower volumes produced for the month for
both oil and gas, partially offset by higher oil and gas prices for
the month reported.
WADDELL RANCH
Notwithstanding requests from the
Trustee to Blackbeard Operating, LLC ("Blackbeard"), the operator
of the Waddell Ranch properties, and the fact that Blackbeard has
provided this information on a monthly basis since Argent Trust
Company has become Trustee of the Trust, Blackbeard has refused to
provide the Trustee information necessary to calculate the net
profits interest ("NPI") proceeds as of the announcement date for
this month's distribution. As a result of Blackbeard's failure to
provide this information by the NYSE notification date for the
distribution, in accordance with the Trust indenture, if NPI
proceeds are received from the Waddell Ranch properties on or prior
to the record date, they will be included in the June distribution,
rather than the May distribution. The Trustee will provide
additional information as it becomes available.
TEXAS ROYALTY
PROPERTIES
Production for the underlying Texas Royalty
Properties was 16,335 barrels of oil and 7,699 Mcf of gas. The
production for the Trust's allocated portion of the Texas Royalty
Properties was 14,569 barrels of oil and 6,865 Mcf of gas. The
average price for oil was $78.00 per
bbl and for gas was $11.16, which
includes significant NGL pricing, per Mcf. This would mainly
reflect production and pricing in February for oil and January for
gas. These allocated volumes were impacted by the pricing of both
oil and gas. This production and pricing for the underlying
properties resulted in revenues for the Texas Royalty Properties of
$1,360,024. Deducted from these
revenues were taxes of $142,874,
resulting in a Net Profit of $1,217,150 for May. With the Trust's Net Profit
Interest (NPI) of 95% of the Underlying Properties, this would
result in a net contribution by the Texas Royalty Properties of
$1,156,292 to this month's
distribution.
|
Underlying
Properties
|
Net to Trust
Sales
|
|
|
Volumes
|
Volumes
|
Average
Price
|
|
Oil (bbls)
|
Gas (Mcf)
|
Oil (bbls)
|
Gas (Mcf)
(1)
|
Oil (per bbl)
|
Gas (per
Mcf)(2)
|
Current Month
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Waddell Ranch
|
(3)
|
(3)
|
(3)
|
(3)
|
(3)
|
(3)
|
Texas
Royalties
|
16,335
|
7,699
|
14,569
|
6,865
|
$78.00
|
$11.16
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prior Month
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Waddell Ranch
|
242,891
|
1,395,453
|
182,168
|
1,046,590
|
$75.09
|
$2.12
|
Texas
Royalties
|
17,006
|
9,815
|
15,152
|
8,744
|
$73.77
|
$8.76
|
(1)
These volumes are net to the Trust, after allocation of expenses to
Trust's net profit interest, including any prior period
adjustments.
(2) This pricing
includes sales of gas liquid products.
(3) Information
not available as of the date hereof.
|
General and Administrative Expenses deducted for the month, net
of interest earned were $221,657
resulting in a distribution of $934,635 to 46,608,796 units outstanding, or
$0.020052 per unit.
The worldwide market conditions continue to affect the pricing
for domestic production. It is difficult to predict what effect
these conditions will have on future distributions.
Trust Litigation. On May 8,
2024, the Trustee announced that it had initiated a lawsuit
by filing a petition in the District Court of Tarrant County, Texas against Blackbeard
Operating, LLC ("Blackbeard"), the operator of properties in the
Waddell Ranch, in Crane County,
Texas, in which the Trust holds a 75% net overriding
royalty.
Pursuant to the petition, the Trustee seeks to recover more than
$15 million in damages to the Trust
resulting from overhead costs and other expenses the Trustee
alleges were impermissibly deducted from royalty
payments to the Trust. The Trustee routinely engages in audits of
the revenues and expenses with respect to the Trust's royalty
payments. In connection with its audit for the period from
2020-2022 the Trustee identified exceptions to certain expenses
deducted from the Trust's royalty payments, including among other
things, incorrect overhead charges, application of overhead charges
to non-producing wells, duplicate charges for services, materials
and utilities as well as other expenses the Trustee
alleges are ineligible charges. Attempts to resolve
the disputed charges outside of court have been unsuccessful to
date.
The 2023 Annual Report with Form 10-K, which includes the
December 31, 2023, Reserve Summary,
is posted on Permian's website. Permian's cash distribution
history, current and prior year financial reports, tax information
booklets, and a link to filings made with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, all can be found on Permian's website at
http://www.pbt-permian.com/. Additionally, printed reports
can be requested and are mailed free of charge.
Contact: Jana Egeler, Vice President, Argent
Trust Company, Trustee,
Toll Free – 1.855.588.7839
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SOURCE Permian Basin Royalty Trust