Court Affirms Benton Oil & Gas Leases in Louisiana

Benton Oil & Gas Co. in Oxnard said its ownership of interests in certain Louisiana oil fields was effectively upheld by a federal court in Baton Rouge.

The court ruled on a dispute between Texaco Inc. and the state of Louisiana, which had attempted to deny Texaco state leases on the oil fields because of Texaco’s filing for bankruptcy court reorganization in 1987.

Texaco, meanwhile, had sold interests in certain of the fields to others, including Benton, and the dispute raised questions about whether Benton’s title to the properties might become invalid. Benton’s largest asset is the West Cote Blanche Bay field, where Benton and Texaco have a joint venture to drill for oil and which was one of the state leases subject to the litigation.

But the federal court in Baton Rouge recently ruled that Texaco’s bankruptcy filing was not grounds for denying the company the state leases, which effectively also upheld Benton’s title to the properties, said David H. Pratt, Benton’s vice president of finance.