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  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
  • QRE OPERATING LLC vs. PARSONS, ROGER D (IN HIS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE LL & E ROYALTY TR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION document preview
						
                                

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353 NORTH CLARK STREET CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60654-3456 JENNERSBLOCKue gery APR 1 2014 Anton R. Valukas April 14, 2014 Tel 312 923-2903 Fax 312 840-7303 avalukas@jenner.com VIA CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED Gregory S. Roden Quantum Resources Management, LLC — General Counsel QR Energy, LP — Senior Vice President, Legal 5 Houston Center 1401 McKinney Street Suite 2400 Houston, Texas 77010 Re: LL&E Royalty Trust Dear Mr. Roden: My law firm represents the LL&E Royalty Trust (the “Trust”), which owns interests in certain oil and gas properties that currently are operated and managed by QR Energy, LP (“QRE”) and previously were operated and managed by Quantum Resources Management, LLC (“QRM”). QRE and QRM are referred to, collectively, herein as “Quantum.” We understand that you are the senior-most legal officer for QRE and QRM. I write to address the Trust’s significant concerns regarding Quantum’s fraudulent, illegal and improper conduct towards the Trust, including, but not limited to, Quantum’s failure to pay tens of millions of dollars in royalties due to the Trust under the terms of the parties’ written agreements. The Trust demands Quantum’s immediate attention to the serious issues described below, as Quantum’s ongoing, illegal actions have caused, and continue to cause, the Trust substantial harm. Absent Quantum’s prompt attention to the issues raised below, the Trust intends to pursue all available remedies to protect its legal and business interests. Quantum’s Failure to Make Contractually-Mandated Royalty Payments to the Trust In December 2006, QRM purchased from ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil their respective working interests in the Jay Field, an oil-producing property located on the Florida/Alabama state line. In April 2007, QRM became the operator of the Jay Field. Following CHICAGO LOS ANGELES NEW YORK WASHINGTON, OC WWW.JENNER.COM CONFIDENTIAL BREIT_0012565Gregory S. Roden April 14, 2014 Page 2 its purchase of ConocoPhillips’ working interest in the Jay Field, QRM, and, subsequently QRE, succeeded to the duties and obligations of the “Assignor,” as that term is defined and used in the Conveyance of Overriding Royalty Interests related to the “Jay Field Property,” dated June 28, 1983 (the “Conveyance”). The Trust is the “Assignee” as that term is used in the Conveyance. Among Quantum’s obligations to the Trust under the Conveyance are those defined in Article VIII. Article VIII(a) of the Conveyance states, in relevant part, that: “Assignor shal! use its best efforts to pay to Assignee the amounis attributable to the Overriding Royalty Interests (the ‘Payment Amounts’), with respect to the Net Proceeds for each month, on the Monthly Record Date for the third (3) month following such month. In no event shall amounts payable to Assignee hereunder be paid later than the next succeeding Monthly Record Date following the Monthly Record Date as to which such amounts are payable pursuant to this paragraph (a).” Where specific conditions are satisfied, subsection (e) of Article VIII of the Conveyance permits Quantum to place into a “Special Cost Escrow Account” certain funds that otherwise would be distributed to the Trust as “Overriding Royalty Interests” under Article VIII(a) of the Conveyance. Article VIII(e) places a limit on the amount of funds that Quantum may place in the “Special Cost Escrow Account,” as follows: “[a]t such time as the amount in the Special Cost Escrow Account for the Property exceeds 125% of the aggregate estimated future Special Costs for the Property, no further amount shall be placed in such escrow until such time as the Escrowed Funds in the Special Cost Escrow Account shall again be less than 125% of said aggregate estimated future Special Costs.” Section 1.22 of the Conveyance defines “Special Costs” as “(a) the estimated costs of plugging and abandoning the wells on the Property, dismantling of platforms and other costs and expenses of abandoning the Property, net of estimated salvage value of equipment on the Property, as estimated by Assignor, (b) estimated future capital expenditures on the Property, as estimated by the Assignor, and (c) an estimate of the lesser of $7,560,000 or 170% of the IDC Recapture Gain and 100% of the 1DC Recapture Interest referred to in Section 1.18(a), (viii) and (ix).” Despite the clear and unambiguous language of Article VIII(a) of the Conveyance, the last recurring Overriding Royalty Interest payment that Quantum made to the Trust was prior to April 2007, more than seven years ago, with a single subsequent non-recurring payment made in September 2008. At the same time as Quantum was routinely refusing to make its contractually- obligated royalty payments to the Trust, the unaudited balance in the Special Cost Escrow Account specific to the Jay Field ballooned from approximately $4.5 million as of December 31, 2010 to $40 million in November 2013, the last time Quantum provided the Trust with an account balance. Based upon information available to the Trust, the Trust estimates that the balance in the Special Cost Escrow Account is at least $46 million at present. Quantum’s conduct with respect to Overriding Royalty Interest payments, including the passage of many CONFIDENTIAL BREIT_0012566Gregory S. Roden April 14, 2014 Page 3 years since Quantum last made a payment, demonstrates that Quantum never again intends to make a royalty payment to the Trust under the Conveyance and instead will continue to revise the balance of the Special Cost Escrow Account in Quantum’s unilateral — and illegal — interests. It is the Trust’s position that Quantum’s actions, including, but not limited to: (a) refusing to make the Overriding Royalty Interest payments to the Trust, pursuant to Article VIII(a) of the Conveyance, for over seven years; (b) increasing the amount of the Special Cost Escrow Account by approximately $40 million in the last three years, while at the same time refusing to make any royalty payments to the Trust and (c) holding the Special Cost Escrow Account funds in an internal Quantum account, rather than with an independent escrow agent, while refusing to make royalty payments, breach the terms of the Conveyance and otherwise violate the Trust’s legal rights. To the extent Quantum purports to rely upon Article VIII(e) and/or Section 1.22 of the Conveyance to support Quantum’s funding of the Special Cost Escrow Account based upon alleged, indefinite Jay Field capital expenditure costs that may arise in the future, that interpretation conflicts with the terms of the Conveyance and the Trust’s rights. Moreover, Quantum’s apparent interpretation of the Conveyance’s terms, and Quantum’s corresponding conduct towards the Trust, has the practical effect of injuring the Trust’s right to receive the fruits of the Conveyance that the Trust previously bargained for. In addition to claims for breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, the Trust views Quantum’s conduct as giving rise to, at a minimum, a claim for breach of fiduciary duty, a claim for conversion and the right to demand an accounting of Quantum’s books and records. For at least the reasons stated above, the Trust demands Quantum immediately: (1) pay the Trust its portion of the Special Cost Escrow Account, specifically, 50% of the total current balance; (2) begin making monthly Overriding Royalty Interest payments to the Trust on a monthly basis, as required by Article VII(a) of the Conveyance; and (3) transfer the entirety of the balance in the Special Cost Escrow Account from the internal Quantum account and into an account controlled by an independent escrow agent. Quantum’s Failure to Cooperate in Audit Process Under Article XVII(b) of the Conveyance, “Assignor shall provide the nationally recognized firm of independent public accountants selected by Assignee, which firm shall not be unacceptable to Assignor in the exercise of reasonable business judgment (the ‘Independent Accountants’), with access, at the office of Assignor during normal business hours, to Assignor’s books and records, which books and records shall be true and correct in all material aspects and sufficient to enable the Independent Accountants to verify the correctness of the amounts paid and payable to Assignee as the owner of the Overriding Royalty Interests.” As Quantum is aware, in September 2013, the Trust hired BRI Consulting Group (“BRI”), of Houston, to conduct a joint interest audit on behalf of the Trust. While Quantum has CONFIDENTIAL BREIT_0012567Gregory S. Roden April 14, 2014 Page 4 provided certain information requested by BRI, the Trust understands that, despite the language of Article XVII(b) of the Conveyance, Quantum has refused to provide BRI other information that BRI repeatedly has requested in connection with its audit work. The Trust requests that Quantum provide to BRI any and all information or data previously requested by BRI in connection with its ongoing audit. Quantum’s Pattern of Conduct Demonstrates that Quantum Never Intended to Perform Its Obligations Under the Conveyance In addition to Quantum’s numerous breaches of the Conveyance and breaches of its fiduciary duties to the Trust, the evidence demonstrates that Quantum never intended to satisfy its obligations to the Trust under the Conveyance. Rather, from virtually the moment Quantum purchased the Jay Field working interests in December 2006, Quantum has engaged in a pattern of conduct aimed at treating the Trust assets as a virtual piggy bank into which Quantum believed it was free to dip and make off with revenues rightfully belonging to the Trust. As noted above, Quantum purchased the working interests in the Jay Field in December 2006 and became the operator of the Jay Field in April 2007. Almost immediately, Quantum announced a decision to shut down the Jay Field for operational improvement and/or repairs. Also immediately upon purchasing the Jay Field working interests, Quantum ceased making its contractually-obligated Overriding Royalty Interest payments to the Trust and, as noted above, has failed to make any recurring royalty interest payment to the Trust since before April 2007. During that same period of time, Quantum unilaterally increased the balance in the Special Cost Escrow Account to more than $40 million. Quantum’s refusal to pay Overriding Royalty Interest payments to the Trust has continued since the December 28, 2012 transaction by which QRE purchased the Jay Field interests. In December 2009, The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. (“BNY”), the former trustee of the Trust, began efforts to sell the Trust assets via a public auction. We understand that prospective bidders other than QRM were discouraged or prevented from participating in the auction and bidding on the assets. We believe that this may have been a result of coordinated efforts between QRM and the prior trustee and represents further evidence of Quantum’s plan to exert complete, unilateral control over the Trust assets to the detriment of the Trust. The actions described above, first by QRM and, later, collectively by QRM and QRE, as well as potentially as-yet-undiscovered Quantum conduct, reveal that Quantum never intended to perform its obligations under the Conveyance or permit the Trust to fully realize the revenues and other benefits to which it was legally entitled. Such facts give rise to a claim of fraud against Quantum. CONFIDENTIAL BREIT_0012568Gregory S. Roden April 14, 2014 Page 5 The Trust’s Reservation of Rights The Trust plans to closely review the results of BRI’s joint interest audit when BRI completes its work. The Trust thus expressly reserves, and does not waive, any of its rights under the Conveyance, or applicable law, to raise with Quantum any other issues related to the Trust’s rights or Quantum’s duties and obligations to the Trust, whether raised in the BRI audit findings or otherwise. It is the Trust’s hope that it and Quantum can engage in meaningful, productive discussions regarding the issues raised above. Please let me know if Quantum is interested in doing so. If not, the Trust is fully prepared to pursue any and all of its legal rights arising out of Quantum’s fraudulent, illegal conduct. Given the significance of the issues described above, the Trust requests Quantum respond to this letter, in writing, within thirty (30) days. Very yaoly . Anton R. Valukas CONFIDENTIAL BREIT_0012569