Important Update: The Court granted final approval to the Settlement on February 16, 2023. Copies of the Court's Order and other relevant pleadings are available on the Important Documents page.
What is this lawsuit about?
The Litigation seeks damages for Defendant’s alleged underpayment of royalty on gas and gas constituents from Oklahoma oil-and-gas wells during the Claim Period. Defendant expressly denies all allegations of wrongdoing or liability with respect to the claims and allegations in the Litigation. The Court has made no final determination with respect to the merits of any of the parties’ claims or defenses.
"Claim Period” means checks or payments dated between and including September 1, 2011, through and including March 31, 2022.
Who is included?
The Settlement Class in the Litigation consists of the following individuals and entities:
All persons who own or owned minerals in the State of Oklahoma subject to an oil-and-gas lease from September 1, 2011, through and including March 31, 2022, under which (1) they received royalty on the sale and disposition of gas from Marathon from Oklahoma oil-and-gas wells; and (2) their royalty payments were reduced for production volumes or production proceeds expended for marketing, gathering, compressing, dehydrating, treating, processing, transporting and fractionating natural gas liquids, or transporting of hydrocarbons produced from the unit.
A list of the persons or entities excluded from the Classes can be found in the Notice of Proposed Settlement, which is available for download from the Important Documents page.
If you belong to the Settlement Class and the Settlement is approved, your legal rights will be affected. Read the Notice carefully to see what your rights and options are in connection with the Settlement.
What does the Settlement provide?
In settlement of all claims alleged in the Litigation, Defendant has agreed to pay Thirty-Five Million ($35,000,000.00) in cash (“Gross Settlement Fund”). In exchange for this payment and other consideration outlined in the Settlement Agreement, the Settlement Class shall release the Released Claims against the Released Parties. The Gross Settlement Fund, less Plaintiffs’ Attorneys’ Fees and Litigation Expenses and Administration, Notice, and Distribution Costs, and other costs approved by the Court (the “Net Settlement Fund”), will be distributed to final Class Members pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
The Settlement Agreement also includes the Future Benefits and Methodology for royalty payments for the Settlement Class for a period of ten years.