Pennsylvania Ordered to Stop Suing Chesapeake for Oil Royalties

The state of Pennsylvania wrongly pressed court actions against Chesapeake Energy Corp. and violated the federal protections given to bankrupt companies, a judge ruled Friday.

• The ruling means that while Chesapeake is in bankruptcy the Office of the Attorney General of Pennsylvania can’t press lawsuits accusing the company of underpaying oil and gas royalties to landowners in the state
• U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones rejected claims state officials were exempt from the federal rule that temporarily halts litigation while a company tries to reorganize in bankruptcy
• Jones said there was “an intentional effort by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to ...