# Who Bought Your Operator? The Payor Change List | Berlin Royalties > A running list of oil and gas operator acquisitions and name changes, and what royalty owners should check when a new name shows up on the check. Source: https://www.berlinroyalties.com/oil-scout/who-bought-your-operator-payor-changes/ Publisher: Berlin Royalties, a veteran-owned oil and gas mineral and royalty buyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, buying for its own account since 2014. Call or text 918-984-1645. License: free to quote and cite with attribution to Berlin Royalties and a link to the source URL. ## Who Bought Your Operator? The Payor Change List By **Stephen Clayman** ยท September 30, 2026 The most common confused phone call we get starts the same way: "My checks have come from the same company for fifteen years, and this month the envelope says somebody I have never heard of." Nine times out of ten, nothing is wrong. Your operator got bought, merged, or renamed, and the new company inherited the obligation to pay you. But a payor change is also exactly the moment when small errors creep in, so it is worth five minutes of attention. This post is our running list of who bought whom, kept current as deals close, plus what to check when it happens to you. ## Who bought my operator? The recent changes | You knew them as | Checks now come from | Completed | | Aethon Energy (Haynesville) | Adamas Energy | July 2026 || Rockies Resources (western Anadarko) | SandRidge Energy | announced June 2026 || Vital Energy (Permian) | Crescent Energy | December 2025 || Hess (Bakken and elsewhere) | Chevron | July 2025 || Marathon Oil | ConocoPhillips | November 2024 || Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern | Expand Energy | October 2024 || Grayson Mill (Williston) | Devon Energy | September 2024 || Enerplus (Williston) | Chord Energy | May 2024 | Each of these is noted on the affected company pages in our free [operator directory](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/operators/), with a link to the acquirer's announcement so you can verify it yourself rather than take our word. ## What should I check when the name on my royalty check changes? Compare the first check from the new payor against the last one from the old payor: same decimal interest, same wells, and deduction line items that look like what your lease allows. The interest you own did not change in the sale, so the decimal must not change either. If anything moved, call the new owner relations department and ask for the calculation in writing. Beyond the decimal, three housekeeping items pay for themselves. First, if you get a new division order, read it before signing; a division order should confirm your existing decimal, not revise it, and you can [dispute a decimal without holding up your money](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/letter-generator/?type=division-order-dispute). Second, update your address directly with the new payor even if checks are arriving, because transitions are when address files get mangled and [suspense accounts get born](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/unclaimed-royalties/). Third, if checks stop entirely during a transition, do not assume the wells died; transitions routinely suspend payment for a cycle or two, and money that stays lost eventually escheats to the state, where our state guides for [Texas](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/texas-unclaimed-royalties/), [North Dakota](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/north-dakota-unclaimed-royalties/), [Kansas](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/kansas-unclaimed-royalties/), and [Montana](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/montana-unclaimed-royalties/) show you how to search. ## Does a sale change what my minerals are worth? Sometimes, and in both directions. A motivated new operator with a bigger drilling budget can mean new wells and a better royalty stream; a buyer in harvest mode can mean managed decline. What a sale never changes is your ownership. If the new name on the check has you wondering whether to keep riding along or cash out, that is a fair question with a checkable answer: we wrote up how we think about it in [The Seller's Dilemma](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/oil-scout/the-seller-s-dilemma/), and our [free valuation](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/free-valuation/) prices your interest off the actual wells and the new operator's actual activity, with the math shown. We update this post as deals close. If a name showed up on your check that is not listed here, call or text [918-984-1645](tel:9189841645) and we will run it down for you, free, usually the same day. ### Thinking about selling your minerals? Berlin Royalties buys Oklahoma minerals and royalties, and we show you the work behind every offer. Free, no obligation, and if keeping them is the right answer we will tell you that too. [Get a Free Valuation](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/free-valuation/) or call or text **[918-984-1645](tel:9189841645)** In a hurry? Our [preliminary offer](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/preliminary-offer/) puts a written number in front of you within about two business days and holds it still for 7 while you decide. More From The Oil Scout [September 29, 2026 ### Inherited Minerals Need a Probate? Don't Walk Away Probate and ancillary probate costs stop mineral heirs cold. Here is what they really cost, the shortcuts, and how Berlin pays for probate when we buy.](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/oil-scout/minerals-need-a-probate-dont-walk-away/) [September 29, 2026 ### Should You Auction Your Mineral Rights? What a mineral auction actually nets after commissions, buyer premiums, and rushed diligence, and when a direct sale puts more in your pocket.](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/oil-scout/should-you-auction-your-mineral-rights/) [September 5, 2026 ### Your Aethon Check Now Says Adamas. Here Is What to Check. Mitsubishi bought Aethon's Haynesville business in July 2026 and renamed it Adamas Energy. What royalty owners should verify when the payor name changes.](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/oil-scout/aethon-is-now-adamas-what-royalty-owners-should-check/) [September 1, 2026 ### Oklahoma's Royalty Interest Rate Changes November 1 HB 1371 moves Oklahoma's late royalty interest from 12% compounded to 15% simple on November 1, 2026. Higher is not always better, and here is where it flips.](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/oil-scout/oklahoma-royalty-interest-changes-november-1/)