William O. Douglas

“ The fact that a substantial part of the gas will be resold, in our view, invokes federal jurisdiction at the outset over the entire transaction. Were suppliers of gas and pipeline companies free to allocate by contract gas from a particular source to a particular use, havoc would be raised with the federal regulatory scheme, as it was construed and applied in Phillips Petroleum Co. ”

“ El Paso Natural Gas Co. is an interstate natural gas pipeline company that delivers gas at the Arizona-California border to three California distribution companies. The present controversy concerns gas to be purchased by it in Texas from Lo-Baca Gathering Co. and Houston Pipe Line Co. Under Lo-Vaca's contract gas produced in Texas is to be delivered to a subsidiary of El Paso's at a Texas point for delivery into its pipeline. ”

“ But we cannot say that the adjudicatory process is not an appropriate method for drawing the line case-by-case (United States v. Public Utilities Comm., 345 U.S. 295, 73 S.Ct. 706, 97 L.Ed. 1020) as in a host of other administrative determinations. The Commission has acted responsibly in this situation and its decision must be upheld. ”