Antero Can Withhold Some Natural Gas Royalties From Landowners

Antero Resources Corp. lawfully withheld some natural gas royalties from a group of landowners in West Virginia, who alleged that the company breached the terms of its oil and gas leases by deducting certain “post-production costs” from their payments, the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday.

Landowners alleged in a lawsuit that the leases that allow the natural gas company to operate wells on their tracts of land in Harrison County and Doddridge County require it to pay the landowners royalties based on their proportionate share of the gas that it extracts or sells.

The US District Court for the Northern District ...