On November 14th, after 4 weeks of trial, a Montgomery County jury awarded a record $11.8 billion punitive damages award against ExxonMobil Corp. An additional $103 million in compensatory damages was also awarded. The claims by the State of Alabama were based on breach of contract and fraud. Beginning in 1993, Exxon had cheated the State by intentionally and willfully underpaying royalties on natural gas from the Mobile Bay field. The future anticipated gain to Exxon, as a direct result of their fraudulent conduct, would have been almost one billion dollars.