U.S. Supreme Court's Gorsuch allows enforcement of $155 million award against Energy Transfer unit

(Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on Thursday rejected a request by pipeline operator Energy Transfer LP's Sunoco Inc unit to block efforts to enforce a $155 million judgment in a lawsuit accusing it of failing to pay interest on late payments to 53,000 oil-well owners across Oklahoma. Gorsuch denied Sunoco's request for a stay blocking proceedings to enforce the judgment while the company appeals a federal judge's 2020 decision finding that it violated Oklahoma law by failing to pay interest on more than 1.5 million late payments to royalty owners in wells across the state. Gorsuch handles certain cases for the court from a group of states that includes Colorado.

(This story corrects name of parent company of Sunoco Inc in headline and first paragraph and deletes photo of the wrong company)

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham)