According to the Company’s FORM 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001, the Company and Plains Resources reached an agreement with representatives for the plaintiffs for the settlement of all of the class actions, and in January 2001, the Company deposited approximately $30.0 million under the terms of the settlement agreement. The total cost of the settlement to the Company and Plains Resources, including interest and expenses and after insurance reimbursements, was $14.9 million. Of that amount, $1.0 million was allocated to Plains Resources by agreement between special independent committees of the board of directors of the Company’s former general partner and the board of directors of Plains Resources. All such amounts were reflected in the Company’s financial statements at December 31, 2000. The settlement was approved by the court on December 19, 2001. The order became final on January 18, 2002.

As reported by the same SEC filing, on November 29, 1999, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas entitled Di Giacomo v. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., et al. The suit alleged that Plains All American and certain of its former general partner's officers and directors violated federal securities laws, primarily in connection with unauthorized trading by a former employee. An additional nineteen cases were filed in the Southern District of Texas, some of which named the Company’s former general partner and Plains Resources as additional defendants. All of the federal securities claims were consolidated into two actions. The first consolidated action is that filed by purchasers of Plains Resources' common stock and options, and is captioned Koplovitz v. Plains Resources Inc., et al. The second consolidated action is that filed by purchasers of the Company’s common units, and is captioned Di Giacomo v. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., et al. Plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were liable for securities fraud violations under Rule 10b-5 and Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and for making false registration statements under Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933.

The original Complaint charges that Plains violated sections 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Complaint specifically alleges that Plains issued materially false and misleading statements about its business and its internal policies. The securities markets were shocked when the Company announced on November 29, 1999 that it expects to take a $160 million loss as the result of so-called "unauthorized trading" by an employee in its crude oil trading operations. Plains' common stock price plummeted approximately 50% in response to the disclosure of this massive loss.