Patterson v. BP America Production Co.

In this putative class action concerning royalty payments on the sale of natural gas, plaintiffs, David Patterson, Philip McCoy, Donald Kanzler, and Shirley Kanzler (Royalty Owners), appeal the trial court's summary judgment in favor of defendant, BP America Production Company (BP), formerly known as Amoco Production Company (Amoco). We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

In 1970 and 1972, the Royalty Owners entered into lease agreements with Amoco which obligated Amoco to pay them royalties for natural gas extracted from their wells. In November 1997, Amoco sold its interests in the…