Published
October 2, 2026
Royalty owners in Oklahoma wells operated by Devon Energy who received Devon royalty payments on gas and its constituents between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2025 will be paid automatically from a $52.5 million settlement based on Devon's records; there is no claim form to file. Final approval was granted September 21, 2026, and no payment date had been announced as of October 2, 2026.
Current Status
There is nothing to file. Magistrate Judge D. Edward Snow of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma entered a judgment granting final approval of the $52.5 million settlement on September 21, 2026, and class members are paid automatically from Devon's royalty records. The opt-out and objection deadline passed on August 31, 2026. Payments wait for the judgment to become final and for a distribution order; no payment date had been announced as of October 2, 2026.Free settlement alerts
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Status
Final Approval Granted — Payments Pending
Judgment entered September 21, 2026 · no payment date announced
Key Deadline
Passed — August 31, 2026
Opt-out and objection deadline · there is no claim deadline, because there is no claim form
Estimated Payout
Pro rata share of about $30.1M net
Based on gas volume and post-production deductions on each owner's royalty · distributions of $5.00 or less are not paid
Proof Required
Automatic Payment
No claim form and no notice ID — the administrator pays from Devon's royalty data
What Changed Recently?
The court approved the settlement. At the final fairness hearing on September 21, 2026, the court entered three orders the same day: a judgment finding the settlement fair, reasonable and adequate; an order on attorneys' fees, expenses and the case contribution award; and an order approving the Initial Plan of Allocation. One objection had been filed in response to the settlement, and the judgment records that it was withdrawn and no objections remained pending.The case itself is not new. It began on October 26, 2016 as a petition in the District Court of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, was removed to federal court and then remanded to state court in May 2017. The parties signed a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement on April 30, 2026 and re-filed the case in the Eastern District of Oklahoma for settlement purposes, and the court granted preliminary approval on June 15, 2026.
Devon Energy Corporation and Devon Energy Production Company, L.P. deny all allegations of wrongdoing and liability. They agreed to settle to avoid further expense and disruption, and the court made no finding on the merits of the claims.
Who Qualifies?
The settlement class covers royalty owners in Oklahoma wells who received royalty payments from Devon on the Class Wells operated by Devon during the claim period, which runs from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2025. The claims concern royalty on gas and its constituents, including residue gas, natural gas liquids, helium, nitrogen and drip condensate. A Class Well List is posted on the official settlement website.Excluded are Devon and its affiliates, predecessors, employees, officers and directors; agencies of the United States and the State of Oklahoma; publicly traded oil and gas companies and their affiliates; a list of specific mineral companies and individuals named in the settlement; persons Class Counsel may be barred from representing under the Oklahoma conflict-of-interest rule; Indian tribes and allottees as defined by federal law; officers of the court; and anyone who submitted a valid request for exclusion, as listed in an exhibit to the judgment.
Membership depends on the wells and the payments, not on where an owner lives. Owners outside Oklahoma who were paid royalty on gas from a Class Well are in the class.
How Much Can You Get?
Payments are pro rata. The net fund is divided among class members based on the volume of gas produced and the extent of post-production deductions Devon took from each owner's royalty, using Devon's own exemption coding for those deductions. Owners whose calculated share is $5.00 or less are treated as de minimis and do not receive a check.The court has now fixed most of the deductions. It awarded attorneys' fees of 40% of the $52.5 million fund, which is $21 million; litigation expenses of $489,906.43; administration, notice and distribution costs of $48,282.49; a $288,717.51 reserve for future administration costs; and a case contribution award of 1% of the fund, or $525,000. Subtracting those leaves roughly $30.1 million for distribution, before any interest the fund earns in escrow. That figure is an OpenClassActions calculation from the court's orders. The settlement documents do not state the number of class members, so there is no reliable per-owner average; individual payments will depend on each owner's interest and deductions.
Is There a Claim Form or Notice ID?
Neither. The notice states that class members do not have to do anything to receive the benefits of the settlement, and the court-appointed administrator issues payments under the court's orders. There is no claim form, no portal and no administrator-issued code.The useful step is keeping contact details current. An owner who has moved, or whose interest has passed to an heir, trust or new entity since the claim period, can reach the administrator through the contact page on the official settlement website.
What Are the Deadlines?
No deadline remains open. Requests for exclusion and objections were due by 5:00 p.m. Central Time on August 31, 2026. An owner who did not opt out is a class member, will share in the fund, and is bound by the release.The release is narrower than "everything Devon ever paid." The settlement agreement expressly leaves out claims accruing outside the claim period, claims about proceeds held in suspense and not yet paid, claims arising from oil production, claims about failure to develop leases or prevent drainage, claims of working interest and overriding royalty owners attributable to those interests, and standalone Production Revenue Standards Act interest claims that concern only when Devon paid rather than how much.
What Do You Need to Do?
Nothing, if you want the payment. The judgment, the fee order, the plan of allocation order, the settlement agreement, the Class Well List and the long-form notice are posted on the official Kunneman v. Devon settlement website, which is where distribution updates will appear.What Happens Next?
Approval is not payment. The fund is distributed only after the Effective Date, which the notice describes as requiring the exhaustion of any appeals; it cautions that this can take a year or more if an appeal is filed. Within sixty days after the Effective Date, the plaintiff is to seek a distribution order from the court, assuming the plan of allocation has been approved, and the administrator then sends checks. No appeal had been reported and no payment date had been announced as of October 2, 2026.A smaller Oklahoma case in the same court is a step behind this one: the Trinity Operating $16.5 million late-payment interest settlement, which also pays automatically, has its final fairness hearing on October 8, 2026.
Sources and Verification
This page was written from the court-approved notice, the settlement agreement and the three orders entered on September 21, 2026, all posted on the official settlement website. The notice is embedded below.- Notice of Proposed Settlement, Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs, and Final Fairness Hearing, Kunneman Properties LLC v. Devon Energy Corp., No. 6:26-cv-00131-DES (E.D. Okla.) — embedded below
- Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement executed April 30, 2026 (Doc. 14-1), including the class definition, the $5.00 de minimis provision and the release carve-outs
- Judgment granting final approval (Doc. 27), order on fees, expenses and case contribution award (Doc. 28) and Initial Plan of Allocation Order (Doc. 29), each entered September 21, 2026
- Official Kunneman v. Devon settlement website — FAQs, the Class Well List and court documents
Questions
Does the settlement cover oil royalties?
No. The class claims concern royalty on gas and its constituents, such as residue gas, natural gas liquids, helium, nitrogen and drip condensate. Claims arising out of oil production are expressly left out of the release.
Are working interest and overriding royalty owners included?
The class is made up of royalty owners. The settlement agreement carves out of the release any claims on behalf of working interest owners or overriding royalty interest owners that are attributable to those interests.
Does this settlement release claims for late-payment interest?
Not standalone timing claims. Claims for interest under Oklahoma's Production Revenue Standards Act that concern only when Devon paid, and do not challenge how much royalty was paid, are carved out of the release. Interest tied to the underpayment claims settled here is released.
How long has the case been going on?
The case began on October 26, 2016 as a petition in the District Court of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. It was removed to federal court, remanded to state court in May 2017, and re-filed in the Eastern District of Oklahoma in 2026 for settlement purposes.
Was anyone opposed to the settlement?
One objection was filed and later withdrawn. The judgment notes that no objections remained pending when the court granted final approval on September 21, 2026.
Official Settlement Notice
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Settlement Amount
$52,500,000
Case Title
Kunneman Properties LLC v. Devon Energy Corp., et al.
Case Number
6:26-cv-00131-DES
Court
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Oklahoma
Final Approval Hearing
September 21, 2026
Final approval granted · Magistrate Judge D. Edward Snow
Administrator
JND Legal Administration
Official Website
Kunneman Devon Settlement
