Texas Supreme Court Declines to Review Arbitration Order in Natural Gas Case

The Supreme Court of Texas has declined to review a First District Court of Appeals decision requiring arbitration in a natural gas contract dispute.  In Enterprise Field Services, LLC v. TOC-Rocky Mountain, Inc., No. 01-12-00345-CV (Tex. App. 1^st February 28, 2013), Houston’s First Appellate District compelled the case to arbitration despite that arbitration was not expressly required under the parties’ agreement because the dispute could not be decided without considering another contract that required arbitration.  Following the decision of the appeals court, TOC-Rocky Mountain Inc. filed a petition for review with the Texas high court.  In late August, the Supreme Court rejected the company’s request without comment and allowed the arbitration ruling to stand.  A motion for rehearing was filed in TOC-Rocky Mountain Inc. v. Enterprise Field Services LLC, No. 13-0276 last week.

You are invited to read more about the decision of the Houston Appeals Court in Disputing’s earlier blog post.