Oil Royalty Owners Get Advice - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Oil Royalty Owners Get Advice

The Bakken boom has created previously unthinkable wealth for many North Dakotans.

One year it may have been struggling to keep the family farm afloat...to now -- swimming in oil money.

Managing that new-found wealth is vital...and making sure it is done the right way is the goal of the National Association of Royalty Owners.

That group's Executive Director is touring the region this week holding informational sessions on doing exactly that.

Jerry Simmons says the N-A-R-O works with private royalty owners -- making sure they are prepared to make proper decisions with their money so that is can do the most good...

(Jerry Simmons, Ex. Dir. - Nat'l Assoc. of Royalty Owners) "You have a responsibility to manage this. It is not manna from Heaven...it is not mailbox money, if you treat it that way then be prepared to probably not manage and take advantage of everything that is coming to you. So yeah, we tell them to educate themselves and educate family members."

Simmons spoke yesterday in Minot and today in Stanley.

Tonight he's at the El Rancho in Williston at seven.

His discussions are free.

Tomorrow he continues his tour of the Bakken with stops in Watford City -- noon at Outlaw's Grill and then six tomorrow evening at the Badlands Activity Center in Dickinson.