27-507.01 Common purchaser of crude oil and petroleum; duties; ratable taking; discrimination prohibited

27-507.01. Common purchaser of crude oil and petroleum; duties; ratable taking; discrimination prohibited

A. Every person as defined in this article which may now, or hereafter, purchase crude oil or petroleum in this state, whether they be common carriers or affiliated with common carriers or not, shall be a common purchaser of such crude oil or petroleum, and shall purchase crude oil or petroleum offered it for purchase without discrimination in favor of one producer or person as against another in the same field. The question of justice or unreasonableness shall be determined by the commission, taking into consideration the production and age of the wells in respective fields and all other proper factors. It shall be unlawful for any common purchaser to discriminate between or against crude oil or petroleum of a similar kind or quality in favor of its own production, or production in which it may be directly or indirectly interested, either in whole or in part, but for the purpose of allocating the purchase of crude oil or petroleum to be marketed, such production shall be taken in like manner as that of any other person or producer and shall be taken in a ratable proportion that such production bears to the total production offered for the market in such field. The commission shall have the authority, however, to relieve any such common purchaser, after due notice and hearing, from the duty of purchasing crude oil or petroleum of inferior quality or grade.

B. It shall be the duty of the commission to enforce the provisions of this section and it shall have the power, after notice and hearing, to issue orders defining the conditions under which extensions of pipelines shall be made to connect wells, but no such order shall be made unless the commission finds that such extensions are reasonably required and economically justified. In issuing such orders the commission shall give specific consideration to the economic factors involved.