Monolith Portland Cement Company, a Corporation v. Douglas Oil Company of California, a Corporation

CHAMBERS, Circuit Judge.

Monolith operates a cement plant near Tehachapi, California. Douglas is an oil producer. One of its products is commercial fuel oil, a residue in distillation of petroleum. Monolith’s plant, as all cement plants, needs fuel to make the clinkers that ultimately become cement. The Tehachapi plant has dual firing equipment. Sometimes natural gas is used and other times it is fuel oil.

For industrial use in California, proper governmental authority authorizes public gas suppliers to make contracts which provide for intermittent service. That is, when domestic demands are…