Managing oil and gas holdings easy
working off of the farm — and wind up missing the opportunity to send in their review letters. It winds up costing them large amounts of money — sometimes tens of thousands of dollars — over a five- year period.”
Both Ziegler and Bower say “the oil companies” are fulfilling their obligation by notifying landowners of pending reviews etcetera but are not required to call them to remind them of deadlines. That is the gap WellTraxx and the dedicated team of professionals behind it fill.
“Some of the landowners we deal with are among the top producers in Western Canada,” Ziegler says. “They’ve got auto-steer in their tractors and market information coming to them on their phones — have all sorts of technology at work for them on the farm. But, then they’ve got $100,000 in oil revenue reliant on a black book, a ledger and some check marks.”
WellTraxx, born in Bower’s basement and developed over a period of one year helps busy landowners manage their information and track important dates in order to maximize the profit they realize from wells located on their lands.
“When you get a letter and have 12 months to respond to it you tend to set it aside, then forget about it,” says Bower. “We had one landowner who had 19 files with a company, went through the whole process properly, but because of a simple human error didn’t get paid one increase. One of our administrators caught the mistake and cheques worth thousands of dollars were immediately issued. He wouldn’t have caught the mistake had it not been for WellTraxx.”
The WellTraxx advantage begins with a simple software package designed specifically to help landowners manage their information similar to a secure online bank account. The program is tracking your rent cheques, reviews and pipeline damages.
“You also get access to oil and gas trained land agents and land administrators who will work on your behalf to help you keep the program updated and correspond with oil and gas companies,” says Bower.
He says the greatest value WellTraxx delivers is found in the healthy relationships the pair have worked hard to foster with industry itself.
“They were very suspicious of us when we first started out,” says Ziegler. “Any time an oil and gas trained land agent goes to work for landowners they suck in their breath but we were very cognizant of that. We spent a lot of time up in Calgary, and elsewhere, selling the positives.”
With the acceptance of “big oil” WellTraxx clients no longer need spend hours on the phone with oil company representatives. Alternatively, oil companies have found that when their leaseholders are organized and informed there are fewer barriers to future dealings.
“Let’s face it. There are only so many hours in the day. A landowner’s first priority is their farm or ranch, then their family, then their community,” says Bower. “Their wells and a letter they received six months ago come last.”
Ziegler says “acceptance” was the pair’s No.1 priority when they introduced WellTraxx to both industry and leaseholders. Now that they have that Bower says they plan to turn their focus to growing the blooming company.
Find WellTraxx online at www.welltraxx. com.
THE WESTERN CANADIAN PIPELINE | WINTER 2013 9
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