Paragon Resources, Inc. v. National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

In this Louisiana diversity case defendant National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation, a public utility operating in Western New York, appeals from a declaratory judgment in favor of plaintiff Paragon Resources, Inc., a gas production company with wells drilled in Chautauqua County, New York. The district court construed Paragon’s waiver of its “take or pay” rights in a natural gas production contract to be temporary rather than permanent after considering extrinsic evidence, including declarations of subjective intent. We remand, explaining that under…