paid at a rate equivalent to a 1.75% annualized return from January 1, 2022 through March 15, 2022, a 2% annualized return from March 16, 2022 through May 3, 2022, a 2.5% annualized return from May 4, 2022 through June 14, 2022 and a 3.25% annualized return from June 15, 2022 through June 30, 2022.
General and Administrative Expense. General and administrative expense was $122,158 and $96,153 for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Trustee’s fees are included in general and administrative expense. The increase for the six months ended June 30, 2022, as compared to June 30, 2021 was primarily a result of the timing of expenses received and paid by the Trust.
For the six months ended June 30, 2022, the Trustee was due $237,500 for its services. The Trust paid $216,576 of this amount to the Trustee, and $20,924 was allocated to offset against interest due to the Trust under the Trust Indenture. The Trust Indenture requires that cash being held by the Trustee earn interest at 1.5% below the prime rate, which would have yielded the Trust a 1.75% annualized return from January 1, 2022 through March 15, 2022, a 2% annualized return from March 16, 2022 through May 3, 2022, a 2.5% annualized return from May 4, 2022 through June 14, 2022 and a 3.25% annualized return from June 15, 2022 through June 30, 2022. However, due to the current interest rate environment, the Trustee was unable to obtain an account in which such an interest rate was available. In the event such an interest rate is unavailable in the future, the Trustee intends to allocate certain of its fees due to the Trust to meet the minimum interest rate payable under the Trust Indenture. In future periods, the Trustee will continue to allocate a portion of the fees earned for its services to the Trust until all remaining interest due to the Trust is fully offset.
Unreimbursed Expenses and the Contingent Reserve. The Working Interest Owners partially reimburse the Trust each quarter for amounts paid in connection with the Trustee’s services. For the six months ended June 30, 2022, the Trustee’s fees were $216,576 and the Working Interest Owners reimbursed a sum of $191,794 to the Trustee, which was the same amount reimbursed for the six months ended June 30, 2021. As of each of the six-month periods ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, there were $0 of unreimbursed expenses.
The terms of the Trust Indenture provide, among other things, that the Trustee may establish cash reserves and borrow funds to pay liabilities of the Trust, and may pledge assets of the Trust to secure payment of the borrowings in accordance with the Trust Indenture. At any given time, the amount reserved for such future unknown contingent liabilities and expenses (such cumulative withholding being the “Contingent Reserve”) is included in cash and short-term investments. The Trustee utilizes the Contingent Reserve in its discretion in accordance with the Conveyance, and adjusts the balance of the Contingent Reserve as necessary when funds are added or removed. The net effects of such adjustments for the six months ended June 30, 2022 resulted in the balance of the Contingent Reserve being equal to $1,073,346 as of June 30, 2021 and equal to $1,135,268 as of June 30, 2022. The Trustee intends to increase the Contingent Reserve to a total of $2.0 million.
Distributable Income Available for Distribution. The portion of the Trust’s distributable income available for distribution each period includes the Royalty income received from the Working Interest Owners during such period, plus interest income earned to the date of distribution (if any) and increases or withdrawals from the Contingent Reserve (if any). Distributable income available for distribution for the six months ended June 30, 2022 was $1,538,473, representing $0.8255 per unit, as compared to $537,730, representing $0. 2885 per unit, for the six months ended June 30, 2021.
Operational Review
Global Oil Market Impact in 2022
Average oil and gas prices during the first and second quarters of 2022 were meaningfully higher compared to average prices during most of the previous quarterly periods over the last decade. In 2021, oil