A St. Clair County jury entered a verdict in favor of homeowners Virginia and Charles Larson, concluding they are entitled to an order granting rescission of a breached agreement with Dupo Oilfield Development Inc.
The jury also found that as a result of the rescission, Dupo Oilfield Development has no further rights under its agreement with the plaintiffs.
St. Clair County Associate Judge Julie Katz presided over the four-day trial, which concluded on Aug. 10 when jurors returned a verdict in favor of the Larsons.
Charles Larson died after he and Virginia Larson filed the lawsuit in 2018 through attorney T. Ryan Connor, who also represented the plaintiffs during trial. Charles Larson’s interest is held by the Larson Family Revocable Living Trust.
Dupo Oilfield Development Inc. was represented at trial by Wood River attorney Thomas Maag.
The Larsons alleged in their lawsuit that they entered into an oil and gas lease with Dupo Oilfield Development, which allegedly breached that lease by failing to comply with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulations and failing to meet requirements to develop the oilfield and produce a certain amount of oil.
The Larsons claimed the defendant failed to operate the wells in compliance with DNR regulations, which were allegedly abandoned. The defendant received about 38 violations by DNR but allegedly failed to correct the issues, causing the lease to lapse.
Further, the Larsons claimed Dupo Oilfield Development failed to pay taxes and allowed junk metal and debris to accumulate on their property. The debris allegedly included barrels of chemicals and other items.
Dupo Oilfield Development denied the allegations and responded by filing a counterclaim against the plaintiffs.
In its counterclaim, Dupo Oilfield Development argued that it owned property on the lease at issue. It claimed the Larsons prevented it from access to its equipment and refused to return the equipment.
Dupo Oilfield Development argued that the Larsons, therefore, took possession of the equipment and became responsible for it, which was allegedly lost or destroyed.
Dupo Oilfield further argued that it should be declared as the rightful owner of the oil lease in question.
The Larsons denied the allegations in Dupo Oilfield Development’s counterclaim.
The jury rejected Dupo Oilfield Development’s claims. They specifically found that Dupo Oilfield Development failed to prove that it had tangible property on the lease, that the Larsons impeded its ability to access or remove its property, that it made requests for access to its property, or that the Larsons failed to secure its property.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 18-L-832