In addition, Judge Wallace rejected Morning Gun’s attempts to dismiss the claims of misappropriation of trade secrets and civil theft, ruling that a jury could reasonably conclude that the data Morning Gun shared in an email—including production details from Anschutz’s Torrey’s Well in Utah—may have influenced leasing negotiations, potentially resulting in millions of dollars in damages for Anschutz.
Anschutz filed its lawsuit against Morning Gun and its president, Paul J. Flatley, in February 2024, seeking an injunction to prevent further sharing of confidential well production data. The company accused Morning Gun and Flatley of obtaining and sharing this sensitive information, which allegedly affected Anschutz’s lease negotiations with oil and gas producers.
According to Anschutz, Flatley sent an email to several recipients that included confidential production data from the company’s Uinta Basin wells. This email was sent just before the North American Prospect Expo, an energy industry summit in Texas, where Flatley promoted Morning Gun’s Seep Ridge Project. Anschutz claims the disclosure of this data contributed to higher lease counters from landowners, who had received Flatley’s email.
