Overdue oil and natural gas royalties and tax

You must pay all invoiced amounts by the payment due date or your account will become overdue and be subject to interest. Learn how to pay your oil and natural gas royalties and tax invoice.

Your royalties become overdue when:

• You owe a balance in your royalty account after the due date
• You owe a balance in your deemed royalty account after the due date
• Your royalties for any previous production months have been adjusted because:
  • You have filed an amended report or information increasing the royalty for that period
  • Your well’s royalty incentives or allowances were decreased
  • You received an assessment from us because of an audit

The Receivables Management Office may take collection action on overdue accounts. By law, any amount invoiced to you is due and owing.

If you disagree with an amount invoiced to you, contact your royalty analyst to discuss your concerns. If your concern is not resolved, you may be able to request a reconsideration. You cannot request a reconsideration of interest alone. If an invoice is subsequently reduced, the amount is returned to you or credited to your account, with credit interest if applicable.

If an invoice remains unpaid within 45 days of receipt, your permit, licence, or lease may be suspended or cancelled with 60 days notice.

Interest on overdue amounts

Interest is charged monthly on all overdue amounts.

Interest starts to accrue the day after the payment due date until the amount is paid. 

You are issued a Statement of Account showing the interest if you do not fully pay the overdue amount by the 23rd of the following month (the interest cycle date).

Interest is set at an annual rate fixed for each quarterly period on:

• January 1
• April 1
• July 1
• October 1

Each quarter, the rate of interest is set at 3% above the prime lending rate of our principal banker for the quarter.

Interest on penalties

If you are assessed a penalty and pay it in full and on time, you are not charged interest on the penalty.

If you do not pay the penalty amount on time, you will be charged interest on your outstanding balance from the payment due date. It will be shown on your next Statement of Account.

Interest on amended production periods

If you amend your royalty for a prior production month, prior period interest is assessed based on the number of days from the original payment due date to the invoice date for the amendment.

Any additional royalty or penalty is considered due on the original payment due date for that month. 

Non-refundable credits that were available at the time of the amended period affect the amount you pay and the amount of interest that is charged to you. Learn more about how non-refundable credits apply when amending prior months.

Interest on deemed royalties

Debit interest

Interest is charged on overdue deemed royalties.

Deemed royalties are eventually offset when you correct the imbalance that caused the assessment. However, you must still pay for any accrued interest on an overdue deemed royalty balance.

Credit interest

Any credit resulting from the offset of a deemed royalty starts accruing credit interest on the 61st day after the deemed royalty is offset on an invoice.

If you overpaid a deemed royalty, the overpayment starts accruing interest on the 61st day after the payment is effective.