Mitch McFarland Obtains Take Nothing Award on $61,000,000 Arbitration Claim

IADC Member, Mitch McFarland of Harrison, Bettis, Staff, McFarland & Weems, LLP in Houston, along with his partner, Jim Bettis, successfully represented Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. and Kinder Morgan Petcoke, L.P. in the arbitration of a $61,000,000 breach of contract claim for damages and lost profits brought by Watts, Guerra & Craft, L.L.P. on behalf of The Premcor Refining Group, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation). The claim related to the collapse of a coke pit wall at Valero’s Port Arthur Refinery. At trial, they were successful in proving that Kinder Morgan complied with its contractual obligations regarding coke handling, removal and water management. They were able to demonstrate that the cause of the coke pit wall failure was due to defects in the design and construction of the coke pit by Premcor’s EPC contractor. The arbitrator ruled that Premcor take nothing on its claims.