Having bought out 75% of a leaseholding near their 100 MMcf/dLadyfern gas find in northeast British Columbia, joint venturesubsidiaries of Murphy Oil and Apache Corp. are going after theother 25%, accusing the remaining leaseholder, Predator Corp., andothers of misappropriating and misusing confidential data about thediscovery well.

News of the lawsuit broke just a week after Murphy Oil revealed itexpects to produce between 172 MMcf/d and 310 MMcf/d this year fromits northeast B.C. prospects, including Ladyfern (see Daily GPI, Feb. 12).

The lawsuit, filed in Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench inCalgary, says a wireline service company working for Murphy andApache passed confidential well data on to Predator. Personnel fromPredator then trespassed on the discovery well site to gainadditional information, the suit charges. These actions were”clearly illegal,” Apache COO G. Steven Farris said, adding that,”trespassing is against the law.”

The lawsuit is a continuation of a battle that started whenPredator and partner, Ricks Nova Scotia Inc., a Canadian offshootof Ricks Exploration of Oklahoma City, outbid Murphy Oil andApache, paying C$8.7 million for a three-section posting near theLadyfern discovery last March. In July the companies again won outfor another two sections of land, bidding C$8.6 million. Ricks andPredator then filed for and were granted a permit to build a10-mile pipeline connection by the National Energy Board,conditioned on their producing the gas to fill it (see Daily GPI,Sept. 12 & Dec. 29, 2000). In a hotly contested case, the boardput off action on a rival pipeline application by Apache and MurphyOil.

On Jan. 20 Ricks settled with Murphy/Apache, turning over its75% interest in the leases at cost. In a counter-suit filed byPredator, that company claims a process of intimidation, code-named”Project Pistol,” which included the threat of criminal charges,drove Ricks to settle, thereby sinking their partnership anddriving Predator out of business. Predator’s counter-suit isseeking $6.1 billion.

Predator claims information about the well was disclosed lastyear by a Murphy/Apache partner in the Ladyfern venture at thetime, Beau Canada, which had put itself up for sale and was tryingto attract bidders. Murphy subsequently bought Beau Canada. Also,Predator’s principals, Bill Longdo, Robert V. Shields and GerryO’Reilly, cite their own extensive experience in Canadian drillingto back their claim that they didn’t need to steal well data.

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