Oklahoma’s House Bill 1371 is one of the most significant updates to the state’s Production Revenue Standards Act in decades. Signed by Governor Kevin Stitt on May 6, 2026, and effective November 1, 2026, it changes how interest is calculated on certain unpaid oil and gas proceeds, creates a new Mineral Owner’s Fund, and gives energy companies a clearer path to reduce long-term suspense liability.
For oil and gas companies, that is genuinely good news. The bill was years in the making, the product of long negotiations between mineral owners, producers, and policymakers, and it is designed to bring more certainty to rules that have shaped Oklahoma royalty payments for decades. But here is the point I keep coming back to: the money you save on statutory interest can quietly turn into administrative cost if you do not have the process and the system to manage it. The relief is real, but it is not automatic, and it is not free.
At a high level, three changes matter most for oil and gas companies managing Oklahoma production proceeds.
Most of the discussion around HB 1371 focuses on the legal changes. I think the more important question is operational: can your organization actually execute against the new requirements?
Every benefit built into this bill depends on your ability to identify qualifying balances, track why each payment is in suspense, document ownership and title issues, maintain payment history, monitor timelines, and support the compliance decisions you make. That sounds straightforward until you consider where that information actually lives. In a lot of organizations, it is spread across the accounting system, land records, division order files, check history, owner relations notes, email threads, and, honestly, individual employees’ memories. When those pieces are disconnected, compliance gets very hard to scale.
That is why I do not think the real challenge of HB 1371 is interest calculations. It is process consistency. An energy company could apply every new rule correctly and still land close to a wash, having simply traded interest exposure for manual effort.
The good news is that Oklahoma operators are not starting from scratch. If you have worked here for any length of time, you already know the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s (OCC) escrow processes. You file OGIMS (Oil & Gas Information Management System) Form 1081, funds move into a state-administered escrow account, and owners can later search and claim what they are owed. The state even maintains a dedicated Mineral Owners Escrow Account through the OCC for forced pooled, unlocatable owner funds.
The new Mineral Owner’s Fund follows the same basic shape: operator to state-administered reporting, to a state-managed account, to owner recovery. The honest version is that HB 1371 is essentially that 1081 and OCC escrow concept on steroids. It takes a structure you already understand and layers on statutory interest rules, non-accrual exceptions, a 36-month clock, documentation requirements, and coordination with unclaimed property reporting. Same foundation, considerably more moving parts. So, the question is not whether you can learn something entirely new. It is whether the processes you already have can carry the additional weight.
I do not think this is an Oklahoma-only story. Oklahoma has been under a unique amount of pressure because of the litigation and the high-profile exits of upstream companies, but the underlying direction is also being seen elsewhere. Some states, like Wyoming, already use interest-bearing, escrow-style approaches for mineral proceeds, and more states appear to be looking for ways to move funds off operator books and into state hands faster.
That is why I would not build a compliance process around a single state’s rules. Texas, Kansas, and others each handle statutory interest a little differently, and operators with multi-state assets need systems flexible enough to adapt as those rules shift. Regulations change. Your process needs to be able to change with them.
This article only scratches the surface. In my new eBook, Oklahoma HB 1371: What Oil and Gas Operators Need to Know About PRSA, Interest, and Unclaimed Property, takes a deeper look at:
HB 1371 is designed to reduce chaos. Your internal process should do the same. The energy companies who benefit most will be the ones who start preparing now, take an honest look at how they track suspense and payment exceptions, and build repeatable processes before the new rules take effect. The savings are there for the taking. The question is whether your organization is positioned to keep them.
Compliance note: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, financial, or compliance advice. Operators should consult qualified legal counsel or compliance advisors regarding how HB 1371 applies to their specific circumstances.
Nikki Naylor is Vice President of Product for PakEnergy Accounting (Midstream) and a recognized authority on unclaimed property, statutory interest, and regulatory compliance in the oil and gas industry. A frequent speaker on escheatment management and compliance, Nikki is a long-time member of the Unclaimed Property Professionals Organization (UPPO) and serves on its Operational Compliance Committee. She helps operators navigate regulatory change with practical, operationally focused guidance that reduces risk, improves efficiency, and strengthens compliance readiness.