Equinor Energy v. NDIC

Citations

• 2025 ND 126

Syllabus

An order of the North Dakota Industrial Commission is vacated for lack of jurisdiction. Adjudicatory jurisdiction does not necessarily inhere in an agency's regulatory jurisdiction. A public administrative body has such adjudicatory jurisdiction as is conferred on it by statute. The jurisdiction of an administrative agency is dependent upon the terms of the statute. Section 38-08-04, N.D.C.C., grants the Commission broad regulatory jurisdiction over disposal of saltwater, but it does not expressly or by necessary implication grant jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes arising under contracts relating to saltwater disposal. The \costs\ of \operation of a well on a spacing unit\ under N.D.C.C. § 38-08-08(2) include production costs but exclude post-production costs. The Commission's jurisdiction to determine proper costs under § 38-08-08(2) thus extends only to production costs and excludes post-production costs. Salt-water gathering is a post-production cost outside of the Commission's jurisdiction under N.D.C.C. § 38-08-08(2), and the Commission thus lacks jurisdiction under N.D.C.C. § 38-08-08(2) to adjudicate disputes between private parties over saltwater gathering costs.