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US: Energy companies seek to shift antitrust claims to federal court

By  |  June 5, 2016

Chesapeake Energy and co-defendant Anadarko Petroleum have asked a Pennsylvania state court judge to shift antitrust claims against them to federal court, saying the Pennsylvania attorney general’slawsuit against them should never have landed in state court in the first place.

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    The companies filed the notice last week with the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania requesting that the court assume jurisdiction in the case and that all proceedings in the Bradford County Court of Common Pleas, where the lawsuit was originally filed last December, be stayed.

    AG Kathleen Kane filed the lawsuit against Chesapeake and some of its subsidiaries last year after an extensive investigation (see Shale Daily, Dec. 9, 2015). It accuses the company of unfairly deducting post-production costs from royalty checks to cover marketing costs, including compression, dehydration and transmission. The complaint has been amended twice.

    The AG has asserted antitrust claims under Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Anadarko was added to the lawsuit in the first amended complaint when the state accused the companies of allocating certain properties for the acquisition of leases that it claims resulted in lower bonus payments and royalties.

    Full Content: NGI’s Shale Daily

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