The Court authorized this notice because you have a right to know about the Settlement, and all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give “final approval” to the Settlement. This notice explains the nature of the Litigation that is the subject of the Settlement, the general terms of the Settlement, and your legal rights and options.

The Litigation alleges that Merit Energy Company ("Defendant") failed to pay statutory interest under the Oklahoma Production Revenue Standards Act, 52 Okla. St. §§ 570.1-570.15  (the “PRSA”) for oil and gas proceeds from wells in Oklahoma.

Defendant denies these claims and says it did nothing wrong. No court or other judicial entity has made any judgment or other determination that Defendant has done anything wrong.

In a class action, one or more people called class representatives or representative plaintiffs sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. Together, all of these people are called a “Settlement Class,” and the individuals are called “Settlement Class Members.” One Court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

The Court has not decided in favor of the Plaintiff or Defendant. Instead, both sides agreed to the Settlement. The Settlement avoids the cost and risk of a trial and related appeals, while providing benefits to Settlement Class Members. The “Plaintiff” appointed to represent the Settlement Class, and the attorneys for the Settlement Class (“Class Counsel,” see Question 16) think the settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members.

You are affected by the Settlement and are potentially a Settlement Class Member if you received an Untimely Payment from the Defendant for oil and gas proceeds from Oklahoma wells, or on whose behalf an Untimely Payment was sent as unclaimed property to a government entity by Merit, and whose proceeds did not include the statutory interest required by the PRSA.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (1) Merit, its affiliates, predecessors, and employees, officers, and directors; and (2) agencies, departments, or instrumentalities of the United States of America or the State of Oklahoma; (3) Publicly traded oil and gas companies and their affiliates and subsidiaries; any Indian Tribe as defined at 30 U.S.C. § 1702(4) or Indian allotee as defined at 30 U.S.C. § 1802(2); any officers of the Court; (6) persons previously paid interest by Merit.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Settlement, you may call (833) 627-8738 with questions. You may also write with questions to:

GOP, LLC v. Merit Energy Company, LLC

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

In Settlement of all claims alleged in the Litigation, Defendant has agreed to pay Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($3,500,000) in cash (“Gross Settlement Fund”). The Gross Settlement Fund, less Plaintiff’s Attorneys’ Fees and Litigation Expenses and Administration, Notice, and Distribution Costs, Case Contribution Award, and any other costs approved by the Court (the "Net Settlement Fund"), will be distributed to final Class Members pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement.  The Settlement Agreement also includes Future Benefits for the Settlement Class.

By taking no action, your interests will be represented by Plaintiff as the Class Representative and Plaintiff’s Counsel. As a Class Member, you will be bound by the outcome of the Settlement, if finally approved by the Court. 

The Class Representative and Plaintiff’s Counsel believe that the Settlement is in the best interest of the Settlement Class, and, therefore, they intend to support the proposed Settlement at the Final Fairness Hearing.  As a Class Member, if you are entitles to a distribution pursuant to the Allocation Methodology, you will receive your portion of the Net Settlement Fund, and you will be bound by the Settlement Agreement and all orders and judgments entered by the Court regarding the Settlement.

The Court will hold a hearing on January 27, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. to decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals from that decision and resolving them can take time. Please be patient.

If the Settlement is approved, unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, neither you nor any other Releasing Party will be able to start a lawsuit or arbitration, continue a lawsuit or arbitration, or be part of any other lawsuit against any of the Released Parties based on any of the Released Claims.

No. If you exclude yourself, you will not be entitled to receive any Settlement benefits and you will not be bound by any Judgment.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue any Released Parties for the claims that this settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class to start your own lawsuit or to be part of any different lawsuit relating to the claims in this case. 

If you do not wish to be a member of the Settlement Class, then you must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class by mailing a Request for Exclusion. All Requests for Exclusion must include: (i) the Class Member's name, address, and telephone number; (ii) a statement that the Class Member wishes to be excluded from the Settlement Class in GOP v Merit; and (iii) the owner/payee identification number shown on check stubs from Merit (or alternatively provide a copy of a sample check stub received from Merit.  Requests for Exclusion must be mailed by U.S. mail to the Settlement Administrator, with a copy by U.S. Mail.  Requests for Exclusion must be postmarked by December 30, 2024.  Requests for Exclusion must be mailed as follows:

GOP, LLC v. Merit Energy Company, LLC

c/o Kroll Settlement Administrator LLC

P.O. Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

If you do not follow these procedures—including mailing the Request for Exclusion so that it is postmarked by the deadline set out above—you will not be excluded from the Settlement Class, and you will be bound by all of the orders and judgments entered by the Court regarding the Settlement, including the release of claims. 

You must request exclusion even if you already have a pending case against any of the Released Parties based upon any Released Claims during the Claim Period.  You cannot exclude yourself on this website, by telephone, facsimile, or by e-mail.  If you validly request exclusion as described above, you will not receive any distribution from the Net Settlement Fund, you cannot object to the Settlement, and you will not have released any claim against the Released Parties.  You will not be legally bound by anything that happens in the Litigation.

Any Class Member who wishes to object to the fairness, reasonableness, or adequacy of the Settlement, any term of the Settlement, the Allocation Methodology, the Plan of Allocation, the request for Plaintiff's Attorneys' Fees and Litigation Expenses and Administration, Notice, and Distribution Costs, or the request for the Case Contribution Award to Class Representative may file an objection.  

An objector must file with the Court and serve upon Class Counsel and Defendant's Counsel a written objection containing the following: (a) a heading referring to GOP, LLC v. Merit Energy Company, LLC, case No.: 6:22-cv-00278-JAR, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma; (b) a statement as to whether the objector intends to appear at the Final Fairness Hearing, either in person or through Counsel, Counsel must be identified by name, address, and telephone number; (c) a detailed statement of the specific legal and factual basis for each and every objection; (d) a list of any witness the objector may call at the Final Fairness Hearing, together with a brief summary of each witness's expected testimony (to the extent the objector desires to offer expert testimony and/or an expert report, any such evidence must fully comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, and the Local Rules of the Court); (e) a list of and copies of any exhibits the objector may seek to use at the Final Fairness Hearing; (f) a list of any legal authority the objector may present at the Final Fairness Hearing; (g) the objector's name, current address, current telephone number, and all owner identification numbers with Defendant; (h) the objector's signature; (i) identification of the objector's interest in wells for which Defendant remitted oil processed (by well name, payee well number, and county in which the well is located) during the Claim Period and identification of any payments by date of payment, date of production, and amount; and (j) if the objector is objecting to any portion of the Plaintiff's Attorneys' Fees or Litigation Expenses and Administration, Notice, and Distribution Costs, or Case Contribution Award sought by Class Representative or Class Counsel on the basis that the amounts requested are unreasonably high, the objector must specifically state the portion of such requests he/she/it believes is fair and reasonable and the portion that is not.

Such written objections must be filed with the Court and serves on Plaintiff's Counsel and Defendant's Counsel, via certified mail return receipt requested, and received no later than 5 p.m. CT by January 6, 2025, at the addresses set forth below.  Any Class Member that fails to timely file the written objection statement and provide the required information will not be permitted to present any objections at the Final Fairness Hearing.  

Your written objection must be filed timely with the Court at the address below:

Clerk of the Court

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

101 North 5th Street, Room 208

Muskogee, OK 74401

UNLESS OTHERWISE ORDERED BY THE COURT, ANY SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBER WHO DOES NOT OBJECT IN THE MANNER DESCRIBED HEREIN WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE WAIVED ANY OBJECTION AND SHALL BE FOREVER FORECLOSED FROM MAKING ANY OBJECTON TO THE SETTLEMENT (OR ANY PART THEREOF) AND WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PRESENT ANY OBJECTIONS AT THE FINAL FAIRNESS HEARING.

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like the settlement and why you do not think it should be approved. You can object only if you are a Settlement Class Member. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class and do not want to receive any payment from the settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because you are no longer a Settlement Class Member, and the case no longer affects you. If you submit both a valid objection and a valid Request for Exclusion, you will be deemed to have only submitted the request to be excluded.

Yes. The Court appointed Randy C. Smith of Randy Smith & Associates and David R. Gleason of Moricoli Kellogg & Gleason PC as Class Counsel to represent the Settlement Class in settlement negotiations. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

At the Final Fairness Hearing, Plaintiff's Counsel will seek reimbursement of the litigation and administration expenses incurred in connection with the prosecution of this litigation and that will be incurred through final distribution of the Settlement, which is estimated to be $300,000.

In addition, Plaintiff intends to seek a Case Contribution Award for its representation of the Settlement Class, which amount will not exceed 2% of the Gross Settlement Fund, to compensate Plaintiff for its time, expense, risk, and burden as serving as Class Representative.

Any Litigation Expenses for Counsel, and for Case Contribution Award to the Plaintiff must be approved by the Court.  The Court may award less than the amounts requested.

The Final Fairness Hearing will be held on January 27, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. CT, before Jason A. Robertson, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, 101 N. 5th Street, Muskogee, Oklahoma 74402.  Please note that the date of the Final Fairness Hearing is subject to change without further notice.  You should check with the Court and on this website to confirm no change to the date and time of the hearing has been made.  At the Final Fairness Hearing, the Court will consider: (a) whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and accurate; (b) any timely and properly raised objections to the Settlement; (c) the Allocation Methodology; (d) the application for Plaintiff's Attorneys' Fees and Litigation Expenses and Administration, Notice, and Distribution Costs, and; (e) the application for the Case Contribution Award for the Class Representative.

No. Class Counsel will present the Settlement Agreement to the Court. You or your own lawyer are welcome to attend at your expense, but you are not required to do so. If you send an objection, you do not have to visit the Court to talk about it. As long as you filed your written objection on time with the Court and mailed it according to the instructions provided in Question 14, the Court will consider it.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must file an objection according to the instructions in Question 14, including all the information required. Your objection and notice of intent to appear must be mailed to the Court and served upon both Class Counsel and Defendant's Counsel, received no later than 5 p.m. CT January 6, 2025.  Your written objection must be timely filed with the Court at the address below:

Clerk of the Court

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

101 North 5th Street, Room 208

Muskogee, OK 74401

This website summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement itself.  A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available in the Documents section of this website. You may also call the Settlement Administrator with questions, to update your contact information, or to receive a Claim Form at (833) 739-5616, or you can visit the Contact Us section of this Website.