UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): May 20, 2021
HUGOTON ROYALTY TRUST
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
| Texas | 1-10476 | 58-6379215 | ||
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) |
(Commission File Number) |
(IRS Employer Identification No.) |
| Simmons Bank | ||
| Trustee | ||
| 2911 Turtle Creek Blvd, Suite 850 | ||
| Dallas, Texas | 75219 | |
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
(855) 588-7839
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
NONE
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
| ☐ | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
| ☐ | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
| ☐ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| ☐ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class |
Trading symbol |
Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
| Units of Beneficial Interest | HGTXU | OTCQB |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure
On May 20, 2021, Simmons Bank, the trustee (the “Trustee”) of Hugoton Royalty Trust (the “Trust”), issued a news release announcing the Second Interim Final Award regarding the Chieftain settlement. A copy of the news release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1.
The information in this Current Report, including the news release attached hereto, is being furnished pursuant to Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to liabilities of that Section.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
| (d) | Exhibits. |
| Exhibit 99.1 | News Release dated May 20, 2021 |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| HUGOTON ROYALTY TRUST | ||||||
| By: | SIMMONS BANK, TRUSTEE | |||||
| Date: May 20, 2021 | By: | /s/ NANCY WILLIS | ||||
| Nancy Willis | ||||||
| Vice President | ||||||
| EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION | ||||||
| By: | /s/ DAVID LEVY | |||||
| David Levy | ||||||
| Vice President – Upstream Business Services | ||||||
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EXHIBIT 99.1
[NEWS RELEASE LETTERHEAD OF HUGOTON ROYALTY TRUST APPEARS HERE]
HUGOTON ROYALTY TRUST
ANNOUNCES SECOND INTERIM FINAL AWARD FROM ARBITRATION PANEL
Dallas, Texas, May 20, 2021 – Simmons Bank, as Trustee of the Hugoton Royalty Trust (OTCQB:HGTXU) (the “Trust”), today announced that the second interim final award has been issued by the arbitration panel (the “Panel”) with respect to the Trustee’s arbitration with XTO Energy Inc. (“XTO Energy”) over the amount of XTO Energy’s settlement in the Chieftain class action lawsuit that can be charged to the Trust as a production cost. The Panel in its decision has ruled that out of the $80 million settlement, the “Trust is obligated to pay its share under the Conveyance of the $48 million that was received by the plaintiffs in the Chieftain lawsuit by virtue of the settlement of that litigation. The Trust is not obligated by the Conveyance to pay any share of the $32 million received by the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Chieftain lawsuit by virtue of the settlement.” The final amount owed will be considered an excess cost on the Oklahoma conveyance. XTO Energy and the Trustee are in the process of determining the portion of the $48 million that is allocable Trust properties to be charged as an excess cost to the Trust, but estimate it to be approximately $14.6 million.
As previously disclosed, XTO Energy advised the Trustee that it reached a settlement with the plaintiffs in the Chieftain class action royalty case. On July 27, 2018, the final plan of allocation was approved by the court. Based on the final plan of allocation, XTO Energy advised the Trustee that it believes approximately $24.3 million in additional production costs should be allocated to the Trust. On May 2, 2018, the Trustee submitted a demand for arbitration seeking a declaratory judgment that the Chieftain settlement is not a production cost and that XTO Energy is prohibited from charging the settlement as a production cost under the conveyance or otherwise reducing the Trust’s payments now or in the future as a result of the Chieftain litigation. The Trust and XTO conducted the interim hearing on the claims related to the Chieftain settlement on October 12-13, 2020. In the arbitration, the Trustee contended that the approximately $24.3 million allocation related to the Chieftain settlement was not a production cost and, therefore, there should not be a related adjustment to the Trust’s share of net proceeds. However, XTO Energy contended that the approximately $24.3 million was a production cost and should reduce the Trust’s share of net proceeds.
On January 20, 2021, the Panel issued its Corrected Interim Final Award (i) “reject[ing] the Trust’s contention that XTO has no right under the Conveyance to charge the Trust with amounts XTO paid under section 1.18(a)(i) as royalty obligations to settle the Chieftain litigation” and (ii) stating “[t]he next phase will determine how much of the Chieftain settlement can be so charged, if any of it can be, in the exercise of the right found by the Panel.” Following briefing by both parties, the Panel issued its second interim final award described above.
The Oklahoma conveyance is already currently subject to excess costs that will need to be recovered prior to any distribution to unitholders. Therefore, the reduction in the Trust’s share of net proceeds from the portion of the settlement amount the arbitration Panel has ruled may be charged against the Oklahoma conveyance would result in additional excess costs under the Oklahoma conveyance that would likely result in no distributions under the Oklahoma conveyance for several additional years while these additional excess costs are recovered. This award completes the portion of the arbitration related to the Chieftain settlement.
Other Trustee claims related to disputed amounts on the computation of the Trust’s net proceeds for 2014 through 2016 were bifurcated from the initial arbitration and will be heard at a later date, which is still to be determined.
For more information on the Trust, please visit our web site at www.hgt-hugoton.com.
Statements made in this press release regarding future events or conditions are forward looking statements. Actual future results, including development costs and future net profits, could differ materially due to changes in natural gas prices and other economic conditions affecting the gas industry and other factors described in Part I, Item 1A of the Trust’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and subsequent Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.
* * *
Contact: Nancy Willis
Vice President
Simmons Bank, Trustee
855-588-7839