Montgomery – A Montgomery judge has sided with Exxon Mobil over how much it must pay the state to end a long legal battle over natural gas royalties due the state.
At a hearing Tuesday, Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey said Exxon Mobil's calculation of $120.4 million in royalties and interest was correct. State attorneys had argued for $142.8 million.
State attorney Robert Cunningham said the state government will appeal the judge's ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court.
In November, the Alabama Supreme Court threw out most of a $3.6 billion judgment the state had won in a natural gas royalty dispute with the oil company. The court left %51.9 million in compensatory damages, but that was based on 2003 numbers. The Supreme Court sent the case back to McCooey to update those numbers to present time.
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