Northern District of Texas Rejects Force Majeure Defense in Winter Storm Uri Natural Gas Supply Dispute

Judge Brantley Starr granted partial summary judgment to HF Sinclair in a Winter Storm Uri natural gas supply dispute, holding that NextEra Energy Marketing could not invoke force majeure despite a 57% drop in Oklahoma gas supply and prices jumping to 100-400 times pre-storm levels. The court found that Section 11.8 of the parties' contract precluded the force majeure defense as long as gas was "available and trading on the open market" and "readily transported"—conditions the court determined were satisfied even at extreme prices.