Kenai Landing, Inc. v. Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska, LLC

MAASSEN, Justice.

*957I. INTRODUCTION

A public utility filed a condemnation action seeking the land use rights necessary to construct a natural gas storage facility in an underground formation of porous rock. The utility held some rights already by assignment from an oil and gas lessee. The superior court held that because of the oil and gas lease, the utility owned the rights to whatever producible gas remained in the underground formation and did not have to compensate the landowner for its use of the gas to help pressurize the storage facility.

The court held a bench trial to determine the value…