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High court won’t hear insurer’s bid to recover $11M from former lease owners - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers High court won’t hear insurer’s bid to recover $11M from former lease owners by Richard Sine Energy Oct 6, 2026 The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by a unit of Sompo International, which sought to compel Chevron and other former owners of an offshore oil and gas lease to repay it for an oil well cleanup after its most recent owner went bankrupt. The order leaves in place a 2025 appeals court ruling, Lexon Insurance Company, Incorporated v. Chevron U.S.A. Incorporated. That ruling upheld the dismissal of claims by Lexon Insurance Company, a surety provider that guaranteed lease operator Linder Oil’s promise to plug wells and remove platforms and pipelines. The justices gave no reason, as is typical. The lease, located off the Louisiana coast, was first obtained from the federal government by a predecessor of BP America and later acquired by Chevron. In 2005, Chevron transferred the record title to Linder Oil while keeping its deep operating rights. Linder Oil agreed to take on all cleanup obligations and to protect Chevron from related claims. Linder then transferred its interest to two other companies and stayed on as operator of the shallow rights. Sojitz Energy Venture, another defendant, held a stake for a time and handed it back in 2015, when Linder Oil also agreed to release it from cleanup duties. Linder Oil filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017. The lease ended in 2018 with the cleanup unfinished. Federal rules make past and present lessees and operators jointly responsible for decommissioning. The government ordered eight bonds totaling about $11.2 million forfeited, and Lexon paid. The money went to Chevron and Sojitz, which finished the work at a cost above that total. Lexon sued them and BP America for reimbursement. Writing for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Circuit Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez ruled that a federal statute lets a surety provider sue only “under the bond.” “Because Defendants are not parties to the bonds, Lexon cannot seek subrogation against them.” The court also rejected Lexon’s claim that the previous lease owners had benefited from “unjust enrichment.” The lease owners bargained fairly to obtain indemnity when selling the wells to Linder Oil, the court found, so they were not unjustly enriched. 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