Court Upholds Verdict Against Tulsa Firm

DENVER (AP) _ The Colorado Court of Appeals is upholding a $4 million jury verdict against an Oklahoma gas-drilling company. <br/><br/>Tulsa-based Williams Production Company was ordered in 2004 to pay

Saturday, February 10th 2007, 10:44 am

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ The Colorado Court of Appeals is upholding a $4 million jury verdict against an Oklahoma gas-drilling company.

Tulsa-based Williams Production Company was ordered in 2004 to pay the award to a rancher who said he hadn't been paid all the natural gas royalties he was due.

Williams appealed argued that some evidence was improperly excluded and that there were flaws in the jury instructions and in calculations of damages owed to William Clough.

The company says it's considering whether to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Clough owned 12,000 acres and was earning about $3 million a year in royalties from gas drilling on his land. His lawsuit said Williams and Barrett Resources -- which merged with Williams in 2001 -- hadn't paid him agreed-upon royalties from February 1996 to February 2004.

Clough has since died.