Republic Natural Gas Co. v. Oklahoma et al. (334 U.S. 62)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 3, 1948 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 334 U.S. 62 · 68 S. Ct. 972
- Docket
- No. 134
- Argued
- January 6, 1948
- Decided
- May 3, 1948
- Term
- October Term 1947
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Frankfurter
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Douglas (wrote a concurrence), Justice Frankfurter (wrote), Justice Reed
- Dissenting
- Justice Burton, Justice Black, Justice Rutledge (wrote), Justice Murphy
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an appeal from a decision of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, arising from an order of the State Corporation Commission which concerned the correlative rights of owners of natural gas drawn from a common source. Since 1913, Oklahoma has regulated the extraction of natural gas, partly to prevent waste and partly to avoid excessive drainage as between producers sharing the same pool. The legislation provided that owners might take from a common source amounts of gas proportionate to the natural flow of their respective wells, but not more than 25% of that natural flow without the consent of the Corporation Commission; that any person taking gas away from a gas field, except for certain specified purposes, “shall take ratably from each owner of the gas in proportion to his interest in said gas”; and that such ratable taking was to be upon terms agreed upon by the various well owners, or, in the event of failure to agree, upon terms fixed by the Corporation Commission. The Hugoton Gas Field is one of the largest in the United States, covering a vast area in several States, including Oklahoma. It was discovered in 1924 or 1925, but the Oklahoma portion was not developed until 1937. Republic, a Delaware corporation, obtained permission to do business in Oklahoma in 1938, purchased gas leases in this field and drilled…
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