Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Stryker, 723 So. 2d 585, 587 (Ala. 1998) involved a parcel of property drilled for oil and gas by Phillips Petroleum Company. See id. The owners of property outside this parcel of land brought an action against Phillips, alleging that the company had improperly drained their land of gas and gas condensate, that Phillips caused a waste of condensate, and that Phillips had acted fraudulently in failing to disclose the extent to which their property was being drained. See id. at 587. In connection with Phillips' unwillingness to share its seismic research with a company to whom the plaintiffs had executed leases on their property, the court observed that seismic research is "very expensive research usually treated as a trade secret." Id.