An antitrust suit against Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and itsacquired subsidiary Union Pacific Resources (UPR) came to a closewithout a verdict less than one week after it had begun. Anadarkosettled out of court with American Central Gas Technologies Co.’s,a spokeswoman for Anadarko said. Terms of the agreement were notdisclosed.

Anadarko followed the footsteps of Koch Industries, anotherdismissed defendant that settled with American Central before thecase got underway on Wednesday (Feb. 28). Koch Industries refusedto comment on the terms of its settlement as well.

Although the jury in the case has been dismissed, AmericanCentral is still pursuing DEFS for its part. “There is somecontinuing litigation involving DEFS, but the jury has beendismissed and all the monetary parts of the case have beensettled,” said a DEFS spokesman. He would not comment on theremaining litigation.

American claimed its profits were damaged because Koch and UPRdid not engage in competition against each other while gatheringand processing natural gas in Panola County, the largest naturalgas producing county in East Texas. Duke Energy Field Services wasincluded in the suit because it purchased UPR’s processingfacilities in 1999.

Last August an arbitrator ruled that UPR and DEFS hadmonopolized gas processing in Panola County, and awarded AmericanCentral $8.3 million (see Daily GPI, Aug. 10). Even though theprocessing issue was settled then, the new trial was allowed tobegin because the judge in the case wanted to hear evidencepertaining to the natural gas gathering and injunctive reliefissues.

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