Landowners Approve Settlement Worth $51 Million With Chesapeake Energy
Chesapeake Energy will pay about $51 million to wipe out hundreds of lawsuits accusing the Oklahoma City energy giant of cheating North Texas property owners out of millions of dollars in natural gas royalties, according to a report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Max B. Baker reports that the law firm representing the property owners said 91 percent of their 13,000 clients — representing 97.15 percent of the natural gas production — agreed to accept the out-of-court settlement.
“The lawsuits alleged that Chesapeake deducted higher-than-necessary postproduction costs from royalty checks,” Baker reports. “They contended that the company used sham sales to affiliates to transport and market the natural gas to increase what it earned.”
