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ulation is valid on its face, even if viewed as a measure designed purely for the protection of correlative rights. 284 U. S. 8, 22.30

Oklahoma's power to regulate correlative rights in the Hugoton field therefore does not stem from her interest merely in the preservation of natural resources. It stems rather from the basic aim and authority of any government which seeks to protect the rights of its citizens and to secure a just accommodation of them when they clash.31 That authority is constantly exercised in our system in relation to other types of property.32 In view of this

31

30 The Supreme Court of Texas has recently upheld administrative action designed solely to protect correlative rights. Corzelius v. Harrell, 143 Tex. 509. Note, 24 Tex. L. Rev. 97.

31 Oklahoma can prevent agents of Republic from going on Peerless' land by force of arms and there drilling a well and stealing gas. The state's power to prevent larceny and trespass and to enjoin any use of property that creates a nuisance for a neighboring property owner also justifies the regulation of common property for the mutual advantage of its several owners. Head v. Amoskeag Mfg. Co., 113 U.S. 9; Bacon v. Walker, 204 U. S. 311.

Under certain circumstances a state may compel one individual to surrender private property solely to enable another to exploit the potential resources of his private property. Thus in Clark v. Nash, 198 U. S. 361, the plaintiff's land could be made productive only by enlarging an irrigation ditch across defendant's land, and in Strickley v. Highland Boy Gold Mining Company, 200 U. S. 527, the mining company could deliver its ore to market only by constructing an aerial bucket line across defendant's land. Here Peerless can exploit its property only if Republic is compelled to take its gas to market. Moreover, until Peerless is able to produce the gas under its land, this gas will continue to be withdrawn by Republic. In effect Republic is now exploiting Peerless' property.

32 E. g., Head v. Amoskeag Mfg. Co., 113 U. S. 9; Wurts v. Hoagland, 114 U. S. 606; Fallbrook Irrigation District v. Bradley, 164 U. S. 112; Bacon v. Walker, 204 U. S. 311; Plymouth Coal Co. v. Pennsylvania, 232 U. S. 531; Jackman v. Rosenbaum Co., 260 U. S.

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334 U.S.

fact and of what has been said concerning conditions in this industry, it would be incongruous for us to hold that oil and gas law is the one phase of property law that cannot be modified except for conservation purposes. Especially in the light of its origin and development in a laissez faire atmosphere appropriate for fostering intense competitive expansions, see Merrill, The Evolution of Oil and Gas Law, 13 Miss. L. J. 281, the states should be allowed certainly not less freedom to evolve new property rules to keep pace with changing industrial conditions than they possess in nearly every other branch of the law.33 Here as elsewhere, in considering the proper scope for state experimentation, it is important that we indulge every reasonable presumption in favor of the states' action. They should be free to improve their regulatory techniques as scientific knowledge advances, for here too experimentation is the lifeblood of progress. See Mr. Justice Brandeis dissenting in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U. S. 262, 280.

IV.

The remaining narrow issue is whether the most practical method of achieving a fair accommodation of the

33 "It is submitted that through the judicial and legislative processes correlative right-duty relations against injury and non-compensated and preventable drainage do exist, but the difficulty of finding and proving the facts in a particular situation is such that the usual remedies of damages and injunction might not be practicable. It seems more advisable that legislatures enact statutes expressly declaring the existence of these correlative right-duty relations in landowners, apart from public rights against waste, and authorize an administrative agency, after a finding of facts, to promulgate rules and regulations for their protection and authorize the Commission or private owners to enforce such rules and regulations through actions in the courts." Summers, Legal Rights against Drainage of Oil and Gas, 18 Tex. L. Rev. 27, 47.

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correlative rights of the parties is invalid because Republic is required to take and to pay for gas that it does not want at least does not want if it must pay for it.

Appellant relies heavily on Thompson v. Consolidated Gas Co., 300 U. S. 55, where this Court invalidated an order limiting respondent's production so severely that it would have had to purchase gas from unconnected wells in its vicinity in order to satisfy its commitments. Thus the necessary effect of that order was comparable to the effect of the order under review here.

In

But there is a crucial difference between the cases. deciding the Thompson case the Court explicitly assumed that the order could be upheld if reasonably designed either to prevent waste or "to prevent undue drainage of gas from the reserves of well owners lacking pipe line connections." 34 Because of a geological anomaly there was a general drainage in the gas field away from the connected wells toward the unconnected wells, 300 U. S. at 71-73, so that the producing wells, rather than draining gas away from the dormant wells, would only reduce their own loss by producing as much as possible. Therefore the limitation on their production could not be justified, since it was neither for the purpose of preventing waste nor a reasonable regulation of correlative rights. Instead of protecting one party from loss, it operated to aggravate the effect of the drainage away from the owners of connected wells. They suffered, not only by an increased drainage loss, but also by the consequence that they were forced to share their facilities and market with the very parties who profited by their loss. The Court held that such an order requiring one company to share its market with another was unconstitutional inasmuch

34 300 U. S. at 76-77. This assumption is repeated several times in the opinion. See 300 U. S. at 58, 67, 69 and 72–73.

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The

as it was not justified either as a conservation measure or as a reasonable adjustment of correlative rights. latter justification is present in this case.

The fact that Republic is compelled either to purchase Peerless' gas or to carry it to market and account for the profits does not make the regulation unreasonable. If that were the sole cause for complaint, the state could take the more drastic step of requiring all the well owners to shut down completely until all were able to produce on a ratable basis or came to some agreement effective to make this possible. It is clearly within the state's power to require Republic to compensate Peerless for the gas drained from under the Peerless land. Patterson v. Stanolind Co., 305 U. S. 376. Here, instead of requiring Republic to make a cash payment based on the estimated amount of drainage, the commission has selected what is unquestionably a more accurate method of adjusting the correlative rights. Even if it could be assumed that this method imposed a somewhat heavier burden on Republic than possible alternatives, it does not follow that the method selected by the commission is unconstitutional. For we have constantly recognized the propriety of allowing wide discretion to the administrative agencies who are best qualified to select the most reasonable solutions to the thorny problems that accompany regulation in this highly technical field. Railroad Commission v. Rowan & Nichols Oil Co., 310 U. S. 573. Keeping in mind the fact that property law is peculiarly a matter of local concern, the special difficulty of defining and regulating property rights in natural gas, the respect due to experts in this field, and the rather unusual facts this record presents, I cannot say that the state is without power to enter this order.

It is suggested that the order, since it includes the requirement of purchase and not merely of transportation

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and accounting for profits, becomes invalid because it shifts from Peerless to Republic the business risk incident to ownership and sale of the gas. Possibly this might furnish a more serious basis for objection in materially different circumstances. But, apart from what has already been said, in those now presented I conceive no substantially greater harm to be possible, from the order's operation, than depriving Republic of the right to drain gas from beneath Peerless' lease without liability to pay for the gas so drained.

This assumes that if the parties should be unable to agree upon terms the commission will fix them in a manner taking due account of prevailing market conditions relevant to the price to be paid, as well as reasonable compensation for the use of Republic's facilities. With those limitations properly applied, it is hard to see what great business risk will be shifted to Republic. For, as we have already noted, the commodity is one not subject to storage, must be sold as soon as it is transported to the point of consumption, and therefore cannot be subject to possible wide fluctuation in selling price between the times of purchase and sale by Republic.

The facts here, it seems to me, justify the commission's action. Whether others materially different may do so should be left to be considered when they arise.

I would affirm the judgment of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma.