Supreme Court to Hear Pore Space Oral Arguments

At Northwest Landowners‘ Information Expo last week, Derrick spoke about the pore space litigation currently in front of North Dakota’s high court. NWLA sued the state over a 2019 pore space law enacted by North Dakota legislators, which prevented landowners from fighting energy companies if their pore space was taken. Northeast District Judge Anthony Benson ruled in their favor, declaring the law unconstitutional. He said that it “acts to give North Dakota landowners’ value from pore space to the oil and gas industry, for free, under the guise of the North Dakota Industrial Commission.”  The State of North Dakota and Continental Resources (an oil producer that intervened in the lawsuit) appealed Judge Benson’s ruling. 

Tomorrow afternoon at 2:45 PM, the North Dakota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments related to this appeal. You can learn more about the history of the case and listen to the Supreme Court oral arguments here.  

Read more about the Bismarck Tribune’s coverage of last week’s Information Expo here.