More than 1,100 property owners, including several from Butler County, will soon be repaid for more than five years of deductions taken from their natural gas royalty payments by XTO Energy.

Payments will soon be distributed to affected lease owners, including the Marburger and Thiele families of Butler County who initiated the lawsuit, now that the $11.01 million settlement is final.

A settlement in the class-action lawsuit was approved by a judge in March after almost three years in federal court.

Attorneys with Pittsburgh-based law firm Jones, Gregg, Creehan and Gerace filed the complaint in 2015 on behalf of Richard P. Marburger as trustee of the Olive M. Marburger Living Trust and the Thiele Family. The Marburgers own 97.7 acres in Forward Township and the Thieles own 148 acres in Jefferson Township.

The complaint alleged that XTO had committed a breach of contract by deducting operating expenses from royalty payments to landowners, who had originally entered into contracts leasing their mineral rights to Phillips Production around 2007. Phillips was acquired by Exxon Mobil in 2011 and XTO Energy took over local drilling operations.

The contracts promised the land owners one-eighth of the proceeds from the gas extraction underneath their property. At issue in the suit was whether XTO, per the contract, was permitted to deduct operating expenses from those payments.

During a discovery process attorneys identified 1,135 members of the class who own royalty interests in 900 leases involving 1,095 wells. Not all Phillips leases were included in the class, because the company altered its standard contractual language sometime before it was bought, said attorney David Borkovic, who represented the lease-holders.

Last year, the two sides entered into a court-ordered mediation before Edward Cahn, a retired judge. A settlement was proposed in November and members of the class were notified. Only 16 individuals decided to opt out, which gives them the right to pursue their own action against XTO, Borkovic said.

Per the settlement, the lease holders will be reimbursed for expenses deducted from their royalty payments for a period of more than five years. XTO will continue to deduct expenses in the future.

“The settlement reflects a compromise under which XTO will essentially pay back the deductions it has taken since January 2012, but XTO will continue to take netback deductions in the future,” read a notice of the settlement mailed to lease holders last year.

No more than 33 percent of the settlement will go to expenses and legal fees and the 1,135 members of the class will each get a minimum of $500 with the rest of the money being divided based on “proportionate share of post production,” according to the notice.

Borkovic, in an interview, said that the full settlement amount has already been paid by XTO and a settlement administrator will be cutting checks soon.

Many of the lease holders have called the law firm to express their excitement about the settlement amount, Borkovic said.

“We essentially got the money that we could have obtained if we had succeeded in a trial,” he said.

The parties opted to resolve the lawsuit via mediation to prevent further costs, but XTO still denies any wrongdoing, XTO spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said in an email Monday.

“XTO royalty payments comply with Pennsylvania law and lease obligations. XTO remains committed to properly paying our royalty owners under the terms of their leases and in accordance with applicable state law and regulations. XTO's relationship with companies and individuals who share ownership in oil and gas royalties is extremely important to us,” he said.