Residents Sue Energy Companies, Claim Fictitious Charges

Residents of Faulkner, Conway and Van Buren counties have filed a class action lawsuit against five energy companies claiming they made fictitious deductions and charges against royalty owners.

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CONWAY, Ark. (AP) — Residents of Faulkner, Conway and Van Buren counties have filed a class action lawsuit against five energy companies claiming they made fictitious deductions and charges against royalty owners.

The Log Cabin Democrat reports that the 88 residents represented in the lawsuit are royalty owners of oil, gas and mineral interests in lands and wells located within the three counties.

They claim SouthWestern Energy Company, SWN Production (Arkansas) LLC, SEECO Inc., DeSoto Gathering Company LLC and SWN Energy Services Company LLC made fictitious deductions and charges so they could charge less for the plaintiffs' oil, gas and mineral interests.

The lawsuit claims that the energy companies charged unreasonable "artificial inflation of deductions" against money owed to the plaintiffs, including several fees.

Residents are seeking reimbursement of the money from royalty deductions, are also seeking a breach of contract suit against SEECO for allegedly failing to "report, account for, and pay" all royalties.

The energy companies filed a motion Oct. 29 requesting that the charges be dismissed or postponed, pending the outcome two other cases. The request was denied.

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