Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge STEPHEN F. WILLIAMS.

STEPHEN F. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

When a natural gas pipeline company extends its facilities to a producing field, the resources committed to the field are uniquely valuable there; the pipeline is therefore dependent on the producers’ continued willingness to sell. By the same token, as gradual depletion of the field diminishes the producers’ bargaining power with alternative gas purchasers or transporters, the producers are dependent on the pipeline. The solution to this relation of mutual dependency is a long-term contract.…