HOUSTON – AZA client Maverick Natural Resources won a $5.6 million breach of contract victory over ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy, which had asked for $33 million but took nothing.
The jury heard three days of testimony in Harris County Judge Donna Roth’s court regarding back-and-forth claims that the two companies owed each other millions from joint agreements to operate oil and gas wells.
Both XTO and Breitburn Operating LLP, a Maverick subsidiary, operate hundreds of wells in East and West Texas that the other company owns a part of under joint operating agreements. For six years, the two companies disagreed about which company was owed revenues or operating expenses by the other company.
AZA partner Ryan Hackney said these kinds of disputes are common and usually are worked out by accountants. But in this case, XTO, a part of the largest oil and gas company in the United States, refused to acknowledge $5.6 million in revenues owed to the smaller company.
“We were able to prove with XTO’s own documents that they withheld $5.6 million that they never acknowledged,” said Mr. Hackney, who tried the case with AZA appellate partner Kelsi Stayart White and associates Colin Phillips and Davis Metzger.
Mr. Hackney said Maverick acknowledged that it was holding in suspense $7.2 million in revenues due to XTO, but it did so because XTO was withholding larger amounts in revenues and operating cost payments. The jury found that a total of $12,880,568 was owed to Maverick versus $7,234,489 owed to XTO, for a net amount due to Maverick of $5,646,079.
Mr. Metzger, a new attorney at the firm, was highly praised by the jury for his clear opening statement in a case involving complex accounting documents and oil and gas transactions. Mr. Metzger received the second-highest score on the July 2024 Texas bar exam.
The case is Breitburn Operating LP and Maverick Natural Resources, LLC v. XTO Energy Inc. case number 2022-10135.
AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, healthcare, intellectual property and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized by Chambers USA 2024 as among the best in Texas in commercial law and intellectual property; has been listed by Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms for 13 years; has been named Litigation Department of the Year by Texas Lawyer three times; and was previously dubbed a Texas Powerhouse.