The oil company Excelaron has filed a notice that it intends to appeal a March 11 decision by a San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge to toss its original lawsuit against the county.
In its lawsuit, Excelaron contends that the county board of supervisors’ August 2012 denial of the company’s plan to drill as many as 12 oil wells in rural Huasna Valley essentially rendered its mineral rights in the area useless. It estimated its 720-acre estate is worth roughly 208 million barrels of oil, appraised at approximately $6.24 billion. It claimed the project, if approved, would have produced up to 1,000 barrels—or roughly $100,000 worth of oil—daily for a substantial portion of the life of the project.
It sought an unspecified amount of damages to be determined at a later date.
Judge Martin Tangeman dismissed the lawsuit after the company failed to serve the county by the 90-day deadline. Sophie Treder, attorney for Excelaron, told New Times the company was duped by a misleading county requirement that isn’t consistent with a similar state statute, under which Treder said the company would have had an additional 60 days to physically serve the county after filing the lawsuit.
The appeal had yet to be filed as of press time, and no court date has been scheduled.
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