Energy tycoon Jack Grynberg has been held in contempt by a New York state court for failing to pay a $1.7 million judgment in a contract dispute with his partners in a joint venture to drill natural gas wells, and for disobeying a 2005 order blocking him from continuing to litigate the dispute.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice O. Peter Sherwood ordered Mr. Grynberg to pay a $250 fine and to pay the partners’ legal fees for the contempt proceedings and for a separate lawsuit in Wyoming.