HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc. (“Midstates” or the “Company”) (NYSE:MPO) announced today that it has received a favorable unanimous opinion from the Louisiana State Supreme Court regarding the Company’s litigation with Clovelly Oil Company (“Clovelly”). In the lawsuit, Clovelly alleged that the Company is subject to an unrecorded Joint Operating Agreement dated July 16, 1972 (“1972 JOA”), as the result of the Company’s 2007 purchase of working interests in certain acreage in the Pine Prairie field. The Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the 1972 JOA does not apply to any leases acquired by Midstates after that date and that the JOA only applies to leases which were owned by the parties to the 1972 JOA at the time it was originally executed. The Supreme Court’s decision eliminates any exposure to the Company from this lawsuit, as all leases at issue in the matter were acquired after July 16, 1972.
John Crum, Chairman, President and CEO commented, “We are pleased with the expeditious manner in which the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled on this important matter for the Company. This ruling affirms our ownership of acreage in Pine Prairie and we look forward to continued execution of our development plans in the field.”
A copy of the Louisiana Supreme Court decision is available at http://www.lasc.org/opinions/2013/12C2055.opn.pdf.
About Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc.
Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc. is an independent exploration and production company focused on the application of modern drilling and completion techniques to oil-prone resources in previously discovered yet underdeveloped hydrocarbon trends. The Company’s operations are currently focused on oilfields in the Upper Gulf Coast Tertiary trend onshore in central Louisiana and in the Mississippian Lime trend in northwestern Oklahoma and southern Kansas. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Additional information about the Company is available at www.midstatespetroleum.com.