In Fort Worth trial, Moncrief Oil seeks $1.37 billion from Russian firm

FORT WORTH -- In 1997, Fort Worth oilman Richard Moncrief waded into the murky post-Soviet Russian energy landscape and struck what he says was a deal with a unit of OAO Gazprom to develop a big natural gas field in Siberia.

Eighteen years later, Moncrief, the grandson of one of the original Texas wildcatters, is still trying to enforce his company’s claim against the Russian energy giant, this time before a state court jury in his hometown.

The trial, which started with opening statements Thursday, may be the best chance for his Moncrief Oil International to claim compensation from Gazprom after losing in other courts.

Moncrief Oil seeks $1.37 billion in damages from Gazprom and several subsidiaries. It lost in a German court in 2010, and a separate lawsuit over the same deal was dismissed by a federal court in Texas in 2007.

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