EnerVest to pay $488K Fine to Settle Trespass Allegations

Texas Oil and Gas Company and Limited Partnerships To Pay Over $488,000 To Settle Trespass Allegations Arising From Unapproved Drilling, Extraction, and Selling of Federal Minerals

OKLAHOMA CITY – Texas based oil and gas companies, EnerVest Operating, L.L.C., EnerVest Energy Institutional Fund XII-WIB, L.P., EnerVest Energy Institutional Fund XIII-WIB, L.P.,  EnerVest Energy Institutional Fund XIII-A, L.P., EnerVest Energy Institutional Fund XIII-WIC, L.P., (collectively, “EnerVest”) will pay $488,491 to resolve claims related to the alleged improper drilling, extraction, and selling of federal minerals, the Justice Department announced today.

The settlement resolves allegations that between 2014 and 2020, EnerVest drilled a well in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, and extracted and sold federal minerals in trespass after the expiration of two federal leases (“Federal Property”).

In addition to paying monetary trespass damages, the settlement requires EnerVest to (i) abandon its claims of ownership or leasehold interest in the Federal Property; (ii) cease production of oil and gas from the Federal Property; (iii) plug and shut in the well; and (iv) remediate and reclaim the Federal Property.

This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Inspector General.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca A. Frazier and Ronald Gallegos represented the United States.  The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.