Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. v. Followill

GOLDEN, Justice.

[¶ 1] In response to a complaint disputing royalty payments for natural gas sales from federal oil and gas leases, the federal district court for Wyoming certified questions of law concerning the interpretation of Wyoming statutes governing the Wyoming Royalty Payment Act (Act). The statutes at issue, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 30-5-301 through § 30-5-305 (LexisNexis 2004), provide that “gathering” costs are “costs of production” and not deductible from royalty payments. Appellant Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (Cabot) contends that the transportation costs involved are postproduction…