NP represented a class of royalty owners in this putative class action against XTO Energy Inc. for the alleged underpayment of gas royalties on gas and its constituents produced from wells in Oklahoma where XTO, including its predecessors or affiliates, is or was the operator or as a non-operator, XTO separately marketed gas. After vigorously prosecuting this action for many years, NP obtained a settlement on behalf of the Class consisting of: (1) a cash payment of $80 million to compensate the Settlement Class for past damages; (2) up to $750,000 in administration, notice and distribution costs; and (3) XTO’s implementation of new procedures and policies for calculating and paying royalty with respect to production on Class Wells connected to the Ardmore Loop that Plaintiff estimates and Defendant does not contest resulted in no less than $60 million already being paid to Class Members who own a royalty interest in the Class Wells connected to the Ardmore Loop; (4) XTO’s agreement to continue to implement these procedures and policies with respect to production on Class Wells connected to the Ardmore Loop, which Plaintiff estimates has a net present value of at least $74,000,000 over the next ten years; and (5) royalty owners’ claims outside of the Ardmore Loop are preserved in the future to seek the same future benefits received by Ardmore Loop royalty owners and the evidence developed in this case greatly benefits these claims. The total value of the Settlement is at least $214.750 million.
On March 27, 2018, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma granted final approval of the settlement.
NP’s complex litigation team—partners Jeffrey Angelovich, Brad Beckworth, Susan Whatley, Lisa Baldwin, Drew Pate, and associate Cody Hill—led the prosecution of this case.
Additional details regarding the settlement and documents pertaining to the case are available at: http://www.chieftain-xto.com.