NEW YORK – More than 80 independent Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas oil and gas producers have filed lawsuits alleging that Goldman Sachs subsidiary J. Aron & Co. and British Petroleum subsidiary BP Oil Supply Company conspired with SemGroup to defraud them and convert millions of dollars worth of the producers’ crude oil and gas that was delivered to SemGroup prior to the company’s 2008 bankruptcy.
In addition to BP and J. Aron, ConocoPhillips, Plains Marketing and numerous other oil and gas companies are named as defendants in lawsuits that were filed in Kansas and Oklahoma state courts. The lawsuits for the independent producer plaintiffs say they are owed millions of dollars for the crude oil and gas that the defendants took from SemGroup just as margin calls were rapidly driving the energy company toward its Chapter 11 filing in July 2008.
The complaints allege that Goldman Sachs and J. Aron exploited their multilayered relationship with SemGroup in which they were the company’s investment banker, offering agent, lender, and trading partner to take possession of the independent producers’ oil and gas in violation of numerous state laws of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The cases are Arrow Oil & Gas, Inc., et al. v. J. Aron & Company, et al., No. CJ-2010-239 and Arrow Oil & Gas, Inc., et al. v. Calcasieu Refining Company, et al., No. CJ-2010-240 filed in the District Court for Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, and Anstine & Musgrove, Inc., et al. v. J. Aron & Company, et al., No. 2010 CN 35 and Anstine & Musgrove, Inc., et al. v. Calcasieu Refining Company, et al., No. 2010 CN 34 filed in the District Court for Pratt County, Kansas.
With more than 130 litigators working as an integrated team across offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and Texas, McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America’s leading trial firms. The firm has been recognized by The National Law Journal and VerdictSearch for winning more Top 100 verdicts than any other U.S. law firm during the past three years. McKool Smith represents leading clients across a broad range of practice areas, including complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and white collar defense.
