ENERGY CASES
U.S. 10th Circuit, May 19, 2008
N. Natural Gas Co. v. Nash Oil , No. 07-3104
In an action for, inter alia, common law conversion and unjust enrichment arising out of alleged migration of plaintiff's stored gas to defendant's gas wells, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) the unjust enrichment and conversion claims were time barred the statute of limitations; 2) the Kansas Supreme Court would not recognize the continuing-tort exception to the statute of limitations for those claims; 3) a state law merely abolishes the rule of capture and does not set up an independent cause of action; and 4) an injector may conduct tests only on wells of adjoining property owners.
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U.S. 4th Circuit, May 19, 2008
AES Sparrows Point LNG, LLC v. Smith, No. 07-1615
Summary judgment for defendants in a case alleging preemption by the Natural Gas Act of Baltimore County's Bill 9-07 prohibiting the siting of any liquefied natural gas terminal in the County's Chesapeake Bay Critical Area is reversed where: 1) Bill 9-07 is an "amendment" of Maryland's Coastal Zone Management Plan (CMP) because it imposes a categorical ban on LNG terminals that the CMP did not previously contain; and 2) Bill 9-07 is preempted by the NGA until the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration approves the bill.
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