Closing arguments are scheduled March 31 in a federal class action law suit fi led by Hennessey resident Perry Cline against Sunoco Inc. on behalf of mineral interest owners who weren’t paid interest on late payments received from the company.

Cline and others testified in a nonjury trial last month conducted in the Oklahoma Federal Court for the Eastern District in Muskogee.

Cline originally filed the lawsuit in state court in Seminole County before Sunoco successfully sought to have it moved to federal court.

In October, the lawsuit was certifi ed as a class action, over Sunoco’s objections.

The lawsuit alleges Sunoco violated the Oklahoma Production Revenue Standards act by failing to pay oil and gas production proceeds to mineral interest owners within certain time periods and then failing to pay the statutory interest required on delayed payments.The lawsuit alleged that Sunoco did not pay interest on late payments unless an interest owner demanded the payment.

Sunoco denied the allegations and fi led a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, which was denied by the court.

After hearing closing arguments by all parties, the court is expected to make a ruling on the merits of the allegations and any defenses asserted by Sunocol

A class action is a type of lawsuit in which one or several individuals or entities prosecute claims on behalf of all members of a group of similarly situated persons to obtain relief for the benefi t of the entire group.

Possible members of the class received notifi cation of their rights under the lawsuit last fall.

Class members don’t include publicly traded oil and gas companies and their affiliates or state or federal governmental agencies.

Those wanting to be excluded from the class had a deadline of Dec. 9 to notify the court.

Cline deferred any comment about the lawsuit until a verdict is reached.