DALLAS, Sept. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominent
Texas oil and gas investor
Edward Bass and more than a dozen
other Barnett Shale mineral rights owners have settled a lawsuit
against natural gas production giant Chesapeake Operating Inc.
(NYSE: CHK) for allegedly underpaying oil and gas royalties and
breaching its contracts with the landowners. The settlement terms
are confidential.
"We're very pleased that this matter has been resolved," says
attorney Daniel Charest of Dallas-based Burns Charest LLP, who represents
the landowner plaintiffs. "We believe the evidence was compelling
on behalf of the property owners."
Mr. Bass and the other property owners hold mineral rights to
almost 4,000 acres in southern Tarrant
County and northern Johnson
County, where Chesapeake has handled production activities
on some of the properties since 2007.
Originally filed in 2013, the lawsuit alleged that Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake violated lease
agreements by selling natural gas production from one corporate
subsidiary to another, which depressed the resulting price and the
amount owed to each landowner. The lawsuit also claimed that
Chesapeake took improper deductions from those royalty payments in
order to cover expenses for drilling, production and
post-production activities. Some of the leases permitted Chesapeake
to pass on production costs in certain circumstances, but court
documents showed that those contractual terms were never met.
Last month, Judge Ed Kinkeade of
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas found in favor of the mineral rights
owners in a significant summary judgment ruling that both parties
now have asked the court to withdraw in light of the settlement.
According to court documents, Chesapeake could have faced damages
of at least $8.6 million, in addition
to additional damages, had the case gone to trial.
The case is Trinity Valley
School, et al. v. Chesapeake Operating Inc., et al., No.
3:13-cv-01082-K.
Burns Charest is a Dallas and
New Orleans-based trial law firm
with a national practice representing consumers and businesses. The
firm represents clients in large, complex class actions; antitrust
claims; oil and gas royalty disputes; environmental pollution
cases; and asbestos exposure claims. To learn more, visit
http://www.burnscharest.com.
For more information on the settlement with Chesapeake,
please contact Mark Annick at
800-559-4534 or
mark@androvett.com.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/texas-mineral-rights-owners-settle-with-chesapeake-in-royalty-payment-lawsuit-300139928.html
SOURCE Burns Charest