U.S. ex rel. Johnson v. Shell Oil Co.
| Decision Date | 16 January 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. A. 9:96 CV 66.,CIV. A. 9:96 CV 66. |
| Citation | 33 F.Supp.2d 528 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America ex rel. J. Benjamin JOHNSON, Jr., et al. v. SHELL OIL COMPANY, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas |
Clayton Edward Dark, Jr., Clayton E. Dark, Jr., Attorney, Lufkin, Thomas Walter Umphrey, Michael A Havard, Provost & Umphrey, Beaumont, Rayford Lee Etherton, Jr., Etherton Smith, John Michael Fincher, Mobile, AL, Reuben A. Guttman, Provost & Umphrey, Washington, DC, Scott A. Powell, Don McKenna, Hare Wynn Newell & Newton, Birmingham, AL, James Burdette Helmer, Jr., Helmer Lugbill Martin & Morgan Co, Cincinnati, OH, for J. Benjamin Johnson, Jr., John M. Martineck.
Claude Edward Welch, John Wesley Tunnell, Law Offices of Claude E Welch, Lufkin, TX, Harold Wayne Nix, Nix Law Firm, Daingerfield, TX, Michael Bryan Angelovich, The Nix Law Firm, San Antonio, TX, for Harrold E. "Gene" Wright.
Carl A. Parker, Parker Parks & Rosenthal, Port Arthur, TX, Wayne A. Reaud, Reaud Morgan & Quinn, Beaumont, Daniel William Packard, Packard & Packard, Beaumont, TX, Von G. Packard, Packard Packard & Johnson, Palo Alto, CA, Lon D. Packard, Packard Packard & Johnson, Salt Lake City, UT, for Leonard Brock, Danielle Brian, Project on Government Oversight.
Olen Kenneth Dodd, AUSA, U.S. Attorney's Office, John Michael Bradford, U.S. Attorney, Beaumont, Robert J. McAulisse, U.S. Department of Justice, Dodge Wells, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, DC, for United States of America.
George Edward Pickle, Jr., Ann Spiegel, Shell Oil Co. Legal Department, Houston, L. Poe Leggette, Fulbright & Jaworski, Washington, DC, James Stephen Roper, Zeleskey Cornelius Hallmark Roper & Hicks, Lufkin, Daniel M. McClure, Richard N. Carrell, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, Brian C. Elmer, Thomas P. Humphrey, Crowell & Moring L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Shell Oil Co., Shell Deepwater Production, Inc., Shell Offshore Ventures, Inc., Shell Oil Products Co., Shell Western Exploration & Production, Inc., Shell Exploration and Production, Inc., Shell Consolidated Energy Resources, Inc., Shell Frontier Oil & Gas, Inc., Shell Land & Energy Co., Shell Offshore Inc.
Thomas T. Hutcheson, Locke Liddell & Sapp, Michael Lee Homeyer, Amoco Corp., Houston, TX, Kenzy Donovan Hallmark, Zeleskey Cornelius Hallmark Roper & Hicks Lufkin, TX, Frank Cicero, Jr., Steven Craig Coberly, David J. Zott, Kirkland & Ellis, Chicago, IL, William John Noble, Amoco Corporation, Chicago, IL, for Amoco Co., Amoco Oil Co., Amoco Production Co., Amoco Supply & Trading Co., Amoco Pipeline Co., Amoco Petroleum Products.
Russell Dwight Howell, Conoco Inc., Houston, TX, James Stephen Roper, Zeleskey Cornelius Hallmark Roper & Hicks, Lufkin, TX, Daniel M. McClure, Richard N. Carrell, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, TX, George J. Terwilliger, III, McGuire Woods Battle & Boothe L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Conoco, Inc.
Thomas H. Owen, Jr., Burlington Resources Inc., Houston, TX, Taylor Mayo Hicks, Hicks Thomas & Lilienstern, Houston, TX, John T. Boese, Anthony S. Yoo, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, Washington, DC, for Burlington Resources, Inc.
Randall M. Ebner, Exxon Company USA, Houston, TX, Shannon H. Ratliff, McGinnis Lochridge & Kilgore, Austin, TX, for Exxon Corp.
Michael Paul Graham, Baker & Botts, Houston, TX, Russell Dwight Howell, Conoco, Inc., Legal Dept., Houston, TX, James Stephen Roper, Zeleskey Corelius Hallmark roper & Hicks, Lufkin, TX, Daniel M. McClure, Richard N. Carrell, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, TX, George J. Terwilliger, III., J. William Boland, Darryl S. Lew, McGuire Woods Battle & Boothe L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Chevron Corp., Chervron, USA, Inc., Chevron Oil Co., Cheveron USA Production Co., Chevron Products Co., Chevron Oil Trading Co., Inc.
Jefferson Gregory Copeland, Rufus W. Oliver, III, Baker & Botts, Houston, TX, Robert J. Pickens, Marathron Oil Company, Houston, TX, for Marathon Oil Co., Marathon Oil-Refining Transp. & Marketing, Marathon Petroleum Co.
John Harrell Feldt, Andrew McCollam, Richard H. Page, III, Vinson & Elkins, Houston, TX, James Allen Drexler, UNOCAL, Sugarland, TX, for Union Oil Co. of California, Unocal Corp., Unocal Exploration Corp.
Ronald Earl Cook, Cook & Roach, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Howard J Nichols, Squire Sanders & Dempsey, Cleveland, OH, for BP America, Inc. BP Chemical Inc., BP Exploration & Oil Inc., BP North American Petroleum Inc., BP Oil Co., BP Exploration Inc., BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Oil Supply Co.
Richard W. Beckler, Fulbright & Jaworski, Washington, DC, James Stephen Roper, Zeleskey Cornelius Hallmark Roper & Hicks, Lufkin, TX, Eric Anthony Allen, Phillips Petroleum Corp, Bartlesville, OK, Daniel M. McClure, Richard N. Carrell, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, TX, for Phillips Petroleum Co., Phillips 66 Co., Phillips Oil Co., Kerr-McGee Corp., Kerr-McGee Oil Industries Inc., Kerr-McGee Petroleum Exploration and Production, Kerr-McGee Petroleum Exploration & Production Co., Kerr-McGee Refining Corp.
Tyler Alexander Baker, Fletcher L. Yarbrough, Kenneth E. Carroll, Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal L.L.P., Dallas, TX, Linda A. Allen, Pennzoil Exploration and Production Co., Houston, John McDonald, Jackson & Kelly, Washington, DC, for Pennzoil Co., Pennzoil Exploration and Production Co., Pennzoil Petroleum Co., Pennzoil Producing Co., Pennzoil United Inc., Pennzoil Products Co., Pennzoil Louisiana and Texas Offshore Inc.
William Raymond Stoughton, Kristen Garvey Schulz, McKenna & Cuneo, Dallas, TX, Taylor Mayo Hicks, Hicks, Thomas & Lilienstern, Houston, TX, Mark R. Troy, McKenna & Cuneo, Los Angeles, CA, Becky McGee, Oryx Energy Company, Dallas, TX, for Oryx Energy Co., Oryx Crude Trading and Transp. Inc.
Max Hendrick, III, James Daniel Thompson, III, Susan Schmidt Pie, Vinson & Elkins, Houston, TX, Claudia Wilson Frost, Baker & Botts, Houston, TX, Oliver S. Howard, M. Benjamin Singletary, Gable Gotwals Mock Schwabe Kihle Gaberino, Tulsa, OK, Peter J. Levin, Pierson Semmes and Bemis, Washington, DC, for Sun Co., Inc.
Claudia Wilson Frost, Baker & Botts, Houston, TX, Oliver S. Howard, M. Benjamin Singletary, Gable Gotwals Mock Schwabe Kihle Gaberino, Tulsa, OK, Peter J. Levin Pierson Semmes and Bemis, Washington, DC, for Oxy USA, Inc., Oxy Petrochemicals Inc.
David Richard Woodward, Larry William Johnson, Robert G. Buchanan, Jr., Cowles & Thompson, Dallas, TX, for Canadianoxy Offshore Production Co.
George Edmond Chandler, Chandler Law Offices, Lufkin, TX, Raymond Doak Bishop, Weston C. Loegering, MaryAnn Joerres, Hughes & Luce, Dallas, TX, Darrin M. Walker, Chandler Law Offices, Lufkin, TX, Regina Cooper Himelfarb, Fort Worth, TX, for Union Pacific Corp., Union Pacific Fuels, Inc., Union Pacific Resources Co., Union Pacific Austin Chalk Co., Union Pacific Resources Group Co., Union Pacific Oil and Gas Co.
Roger Neil Moss, Lufkin, TX, Karen L. Manos, Alan M. Grimaldi, Charles J. Engel, III, Kristen S. Scammon, Howrey & Simon, Washington, DC, Bob F. Wright, Domengeaux Wright & Roy, Lafayette, LA, Michael Van Ardoin, Robert K. Hammack, Lafayette, LA, for Texas Inc., Texaco Exploration & Production Inc., Texaco Trading & Transp., Inc., Texaco Oil Trading & Supply Co., Texaco Producing Inc., Texaco Refining & Marketing, Inc., Four Star Oil and Gas Co.
Before the Court is the Defendants'1 Rule 12(b)(1) Motion and Memorandum to Dismiss Relators' Claims for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4)(a) (Doc. # 302). Defendants assert that the Court lacks jurisdiction over Relators' qui tam action because the action is "based on the public disclosure of allegations or transactions" and that the relators are not the original sources of the information on which the allegations are based. Relators reply that there has been no public disclosure of the allegations or transactions, and alternatively, if the Court finds that public disclosure has been made, that they are the original sources of the information. After reviewing the motions, briefs and materials submitted by the parties, hearing the arguments of counsel, and reviewing the applicable law, the Court is ready to make its ruling.
The Relators have brought this action pursuant to the False Claim Act, 31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq. ("FCA") against eighteen (18) major oil companies and their divisions, subsidiaries or affiliates, claiming underpayment of royalties owed by the companies to the United States for production of oil on federal and Indian lands.
This action was commenced on February 16, 1996, by the filing, under seal, of an Original Complaint by Relator J. Benjamin Johnson, Jr. Johnson sued to recover penalties and damages arising from the defendants' false statements regarding the royalties owed and/or paid to the United States by the defendants for crude oil produced from Government owned lands. He alleged the defendants had historically underpaid oil royalties to the Government by calculating the royalties using prices substantially lower than the consideration the defendants actually have received for the oil. On July 12, 1996, Johnson filed the First Amended Original Complaint wherein he was joined by Relator John Martineck.
On August 2, 1996, Relator Harrold E. ("Gene") Wright filed a False Claims Act action, under seal, in the Texarkana Division.2 On June 9, 1997, Realtors Leonard Brock, Danielle Brain, and POGO filed two additional False Claims Act actions, under seal.3 The Court has previously found that these actions were "related" to the action first filed by relator Johnson and therefore dismissed these relators pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(5).
On February 18, 1998, the United States elected to intervene in the suit as to Shell Oil Company, Amoco Oil Company, Conoco Inc., and Burlington Resources, Inc. and their various subsidiaries and affiliates.4 On that date the case was unsealed and was...
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