A remittance statement is the same arithmetic on every operator's paper, dressed up in different columns. Once you can see the pattern you can check a Montana stub in a minute — and you will notice the month a well was left off or a deduction quietly doubled.
Volume and price. Barrels (oil) or mcf (gas) sold for the production month, and the price per unit. Multiply them and you have gross value for the well.
Your decimal interest. A number like 0.00234375, printed once per property. It is your fraction of the minerals × your royalty rate × the tract's share of the spacing unit. If the decimal changes without a letter explaining why, ask.
Taxes. Montana levies an oil and gas production tax whose rate depends on the well's age and type — new horizontal wells get a reduced rate for their first months, then a higher standard rate — so two wells on the same stub can carry visibly different tax lines. Local government shares of that tax come out of the same withholding. They are withheld from royalty owners in proportion to their interest and should be applied to gross value, not net.
Deductions. Gathering, compression, processing, transportation and marketing. Whether these can be charged against your royalty depends on your lease language and the type of interest you hold, so read the lease before you accept them.
Net. Gross − taxes − deductions, times your decimal (or the decimal applied first — operators differ), summed over every well on the stub. It must equal the check.
Montana's royalty-payment statute sets a deadline for the first payment after a well starts selling and for the regular payments after that, and allows interest on royalties paid late without a good reason. Cite it in a letter before you cite a lawyer (MCA § 82-10-103). If a check is months overdue, a letter citing the statute usually gets a reply.
A spreadsheet with one row per stub line — well, month, volume, price, gross, tax, deductions, net — is the single best tool a royalty owner has. It makes 1099 season trivial, shows decline at a glance, and turns "the check seems small" into "well X paid 40% less than last month at the same price." If you are paid in more than one state, keep one ledger and tag each line with its state: the taxes differ, and so do the 1099 state-withholding boxes.
The 1099-MISC reports gross royalty before taxes and deductions, and it is by check date rather than production month. Reconciling it needs the year's stubs added up line by line.
It depends on the lease and on how the state's courts have read the royalty clause. Read the royalty clause and, if it is silent or ambiguous, get advice before signing a division order that ratifies the deductions.
A statement from the operator of the decimal interest it believes you own in a well or unit. Signing it confirms the decimal for payment purposes; it does not change your title. Check the arithmetic against your fraction, royalty rate and tract acreage before you sign.