MOUNDSVILLE – A class action lawsuit has been filed against CNX Gas Company LLC and Noble Energy Inc. after the plaintiffs claim the companies were unjustly enriched at their expense.
On Sept. 9, 2009, David L. Kinney and Raymond P. Kinney entered into an oil, gas and coalbed methane gas lease agreement with CNX regarding their property, according to a complaint filed in Marshall Circuit Court.
The Kinneys claim on Nov. 2, 2011, CNX assigned 50 percent of its right, title and interest in certain oil, gas and/or mineral leases to Noble Energy, which included the 2009 lease with them.
Oil and/or gas wells have been drilled on the Kinney property and production has already occurred, and both CNX and Noble have made royalty payments to the plaintiffs in which a flat-rate of expenses per MMBtu has been subtracted, according to the suit.
The Kinneys claim as a result of the provisions in the 2009 lease and the defendants’ actual royalty payments made to the plaintiffs, expenses have been subtracted from their royalty payments that have not been actually incurred and were not reasonable.
Moreover, the defendants also subcontracted expenses from the plaintiffs’ royalty payments without providing, by evidence of the type normally developed in legal proceedings requiring an accounting, that the defendants actually incurred such costs and that they were reasonable, according to the suit.
The Kinneys claim they bring their claims for declaratory judgment, unjust enrichment and fraud on behalf of all individuals who have received royalty payments from the defendants in which a flat-rate of post-production costs have been subcontracted, which have not been actually incurred and are not reasonable.
The defendants received a benefit from the plaintiffs and class members and were unjustly enriched at their expenses, according to the suit.
The Kinneys claim the defendants’ actions constitute fraud.
The Kinneys are seeking class certification and compensatory and punitive damages.
They are being represented by James G. Bordas Jr. and Jeremy M. McGraw of Bordas & Bordas.
Marshall Circuit Court case number: 15-C-186
