By Michelle Casady
Law360, Houston (May 9, 2017, 5:28 PM EDT) — BHP Billiton Petroleum LLC has filed a lawsuit in state district court in Houston alleging that Exco Operating Company LP owes it millions of dollars in royalties and other payments related to revenue from drilling operations in Louisiana that Exco originally said it was holding in suspense but now refuses to hand over.
BHP told the court in a suit filed on Friday that it sent demand letters for payment in August 2015, and Exco said it would deposit the funds in the registry of the court while a lawsuit between BHP and another company, Devon Energy Production Co., over ownership of the wells was resolved. But that litigation has been settled, BHP told the court, and Exco has failed to make the payments. The funds held in suspense, BHP explained in the petition, were from both leased property and property not subject to a lease under Louisiana law, in which BHP was an “unleased mineral interest owner.”