DALLAS, July 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 30
business entities and individuals, including Fort Worth's Kimbell Art Foundation, are suing
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) based on claims that the
company structured a series of contracts in order to receive
excessive fees and other charges after the 2009 sale of its Barnett
Shale midstream assets.
The lawsuit alleges that Chesapeake's $588 million sale of assets to New York hedge fund Global Infrastructure
Partners also was structured to charge unreasonable fees on
royalties. The sale included an exclusive 20-year production
commitment related to Chesapeake's Barnett Shale midstream
gathering assets. In addition, the suit challenges Chesapeake's
transportation fees and net royalty interest
calculations.
The lawsuit involves oil and gas leases covering more than 5,400
mineral acres and more than 750 producing gas wells in Tarrant, Johnson and Ellis counties.
"Chesapeake structured its midstream asset sale and
transportation agreements in such a way that the lessors and
royalty owners bore unreasonable costs," says attorney Daniel
Charest of Burns Charest LLP in Dallas, who represents the plaintiffs. "My
clients only want a fair price for their royalty production. That's
what this case is about."
The case is Addax Mineral Funds, et al.v. Chesapeake
Operating, LLC, et al., No. DC-16-07867, in the
95th District Court in Dallas.
The attorneys at Burns Charest have years of experience in
complex oil and gas royalty disputes in various shale plays across
the country, including the Barnett, the Eagle-Ford, the Marcellus
and Utica, and the Hanesville. Among other matters, in late 2015,
the firm secured a favorable, confidential settlement for members
of the Bass family in Fort Worth
as part of a separate lawsuit against Chesapeake over unpaid oil
and gas royalties in North
Texas.
For more information, please contact Sophia Reza at 800-559-4534 or
Sophia@androvett.com.
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SOURCE Burns Charest LLP