$11 million settlement ends XTO lawsuit
PITTSBURGH — An $11 million resolution to a lawsuit filed by two Butler County landowners against XTO Energy is pending in federal court.
The resolution, which is subject to court approval, ends a class-action lawsuit against the oil company after a lawsuit was filed claiming insufficient natural gas royalty payments.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2015 by the Thiele family and Richard Marburger as a trustee of the Olive M. Marburger living trust. Both are Butler County landowners and are claiming that XTO Energy had committed a breach of contract by deducting operating expenses from royalty payments to landowners, leaving them with less than the one-eighth of the proceeds they were promised in the leases.
Attorney David Borkovic of the Pittsburgh-based law firm Jones, Gregg Creehan and Gerace, who represents the plaintiffs. said the class-action lawsuit, which has about 11,040 members, will be resolved by the payment of $11 million from XTO.
A full report will appear in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.
