Proposal would settle Chesapeake lawsuit for $6.95 million

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A proposed $6.95 million settlement would end a lawsuit alleging the co-founders of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy conspired to rig bids on leases for land to explore for oil and natural gas.

The proposal filed late Wednesday in federal court calls for thousands of people in Oklahoma and Kansas to share in the settlement.

Aubrey McClendon left Chesapeake in 2013 over differences with the company’s board of directors. Tom Ward, who left Chesapeake in 2006 and later formed now-bankrupt Sandridge Energy, denied the conspiracy allegation.

The lawsuit alleges McClendon, who died in a March 2016 auto accident the day before the lawsuit was filed, and Ward conspired from 2007 to 2012 for Chesapeake and Sandridge to not bid against each other in order to suppress prices for leases and royalties.