HOUSTON, Sept. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A South Texas
jury has awarded Matrix Petroleum nearly $100 million in lost proceeds from wells in the
Eagle Ford Shale, finding that exploration company Talisman Energy
committed fraud through its accounting methods and breach of the
Joint Operating Agreement.
Matrix Petroleum, which was a non-operating working interest
partner with Talisman in oil production leases on the Cooke Ranch
near Cotulla, Texas, was
represented in the month-long trial by Houston lawyer John H. Kim, founder of The Kim
Law Firm. Talisman was purchased in 2015 by Spanish oil giant
Repsol.
"The simple fact was that Talisman failed to provide accurate
accounting on volume and revenues for more than five years," says
Mr. Kim. "It was not an oversight or an error in record-keeping. It
was a conscious business decision that robbed Talisman's business
partners of millions upon millions of dollars in its revenues from
real property interests."
Jurors in La Salle County's
218th Judicial District of Texas issued their verdict on Sept. 19 before Judge Russell Wilson.
According to court records, shortly after acquiring interest in
the Cooke Ranch fields in 2011, Talisman instead began drilling
three wells on an adjacent lease. That left the Cooke Ranch field
idle and nearly resulted in the loss of drilling rights as work
there did not begin within the required 90 days. When questioned
about their actions by Matrix officials, Talisman representatives
were reportedly dismissive of the concerns of their lease
partners.
Since that time, Talisman acted unilaterally "hundreds" of times
on developmental and operational matters in direct violation of the
production field governing documents for Cooke Ranch, including the
controlling Joint Operating Agreement from 1954.
"Through their actions and inactions, including ignoring
multiple requests from Matrix for required daily drilling reports
and detailed accounting statements, Talisman put the business
interests of everyone in the joint operating agreement in
jeopardy," said Mr. Kim. "We are pleased that the jury recognized
the exceptional arrogance central to Talisman's business practices
and did not allow them to walk away from their actions."
Mr. Kim stressed his trial team, which consisted of Tim Rothberg, Denise
Kim (lawyer and jury consultant), and Crystal Dang were invaluable. The Kim Law firm
was hired in May of this year after years of litigation to handle
the trial. "Our presentation of the Matrix positions was seamless
because of the preparation of the team members, who all invested
extraordinary commitment in the last four
months."
Mr. Kim and The Kim Law Firm represent defendants and plaintiffs
in oil & gas litigation, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty,
securities litigation, claims of tortious interference and trade
secret actions. The Kim Law Firm has recovered well in excess of a
half billion dollars for clients directly and through counterclaims
through aggressive litigation. The firm represents entrepreneurs,
business start-ups, mid-sized companies, and established national
and international corporations in everything from contract and
complex business disputes to insider trading allegations, product
liability and other intellectual property disputes. For more
information, please visit http://www.thekimlawfirm.com.
Media Contact:
Rhonda
Reddick
800-559-4534
rhonda@androvett.com
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SOURCE The Kim Law Firm