The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled a Grady County District Court judge was right in a decision involving one energy company suing another in a dispute over well production payments.
The appellate court made the determination in a June 2025 lawsuit filed by Riverford Exploration LLC of Houston and Dallas, Texas, against Citizen Energy III LLC of Oklahoma City.
The lawsuit stemmed from a dispute over the operation of Wright 1H and Wright 1H wells in Grady County by Citizen Energy. Riverford filed a petition against Citizen in February 2023, seeking a declaratory judgment that it was entitled to a proportionate share of the revenues. Riverford contended it was not receiving accurate payments from the production and sought an accounting and interest under the Oklahoma Production Revenue Standards Act. Citizen denied Riverford’s claims.
Riverford filed a motion for summary judgment in September 2024 and Citizen answered with a cross-motion for summary judgment.
In May 2025, District Judge Kory Kirland granted Citizen’s cross-motion and determined that under a June 2005 Oklahoma Corporation Commission order, Riverford does not own a working interest in the section where the two wells are located.
Riverford appealed. However, in the opinion by Presiding Judge Barbara G. Swinton, Riverford’s appeal was rejected.
“We agree with Citizen’s arguments on appeal and find that the district court’s order should be affirmed. When analyzing the undisputed facts as applied to the applicable law, we find that the district court was correct on the issue before us regarding the 1978 JOA. Based upon our review of the record, we find that the district court’s order on appeal should be affirmed.” Judges Robert D. Bell and Brian J. Goree concurred.