Arkansas mineral owners have formed a class action lawsuit to gain back unlawful royalty deductions.
Royalty owners in Faulkner, Conway and Van Buren counties AK are banding together to accuse several oil and gas operators of cheating them on their oil, gas and mineral interests. 88 defendants have filed suit against SouthWestern Energy Company, SWN Production LLC, SEECO Inc., DeSoto Gathering Company LLC and SWN Energy Services Company LLC, according to the Log Cabin Democrat.
Plaintiffs claim they were charged unreasonable, inflated, fictitious, improper and unlawful royalty deductions and are seeking reimbursement. Claims against these oil and gas companies include:
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Charges for an artificial inflation of deductions against monies owed to plaintiffs, including a gathering fee, treatment fee and compression charge.
- Fraud
- Violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act
- Civil conspiracy
- Breach of contract for allegedly failing to report, account for, and pay all royalties
On October 29th the energy companies filed a motion requesting that the charges be dismissed or postponed pending resolution of other cases. The request was denied.