N. Natural Gas Co. v. ONEOK Field Servs. Co., LLC

Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern) claimed several gas and energy companies (collectively, ONEOK and Lumen) wrongfully converted natural gas by purchasing gas from two producers (collectively, Nash and L.D.), which operated wells on land near Northern's underground natural gas storage field. ONEOK and Lumen filed third-party identification claims against Nash and L.D. Nash and L.D., in turn, asserted various claims against Northern, ONEOK, and Lumen. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Nash and L.D. on the third-party identification claims, concluding that Northern lost title to its migrating storage gas, and thus, Nash and L.D. had title to the gas produced by wells located beyond property adjoining the certificated boundaries of Northern's gas storage field and purchased by ONEOK and Lumen. Before the court journalized its order, Northern expanded the certificated boundaries of its storage field, bringing the wells at issue within the expansion area. The district court denied Northern's motion to modify its summary judgment ruling but limited its ruling to matters prior to June 2, 2010. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that by application of the rule of capture, Nash and L.D. possessed title to the gas produced from their wells before June 2, 2010. View "N. Natural Gas Co. v. ONEOK Field Servs. Co., LLC" on Justia Law