Court upholds $4 million verdict against Tulsa gas drilling company
DENVER The Colorado Court of Appeals is upholding a four (m) million-dollar jury verdict against an Oklahoma gas-drilling company.
Tulsa-based Williams Production Company was ordered in 2004 to pay the award to a rancher who said he hadn’t been paid all the natural gas royalties he was due.Williams appealed the verdict and argued that some evidence was improperly excluded and that there were flaws in the jury instructions and in calculations of damages owed to William Clough (klow).Clough owned 12-thousand acres and was earning about three (m) million dollars a year in royalties from gas drilling on his land. His lawsuit said Williams and Barrett Resources — which merged with Williams in 2001 — hadn’t paid him agreed-upon royalties from February 1996 to February 2004.Clough has since died.Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.