The commissioner may lease or sublease certain intrastate natural gas pipeline systems, but cannot lease until determining that no other pipeline is or will be available for the gas supply.
§556. Lease and sublease of pipelines by commissioner To encourage the construction, expansion, improvement or betterment of intrastate natural gas pipelines, particularly pipelines and related facilities necessary, incidental or useful to the connection of existing intrastate natural gas pipeline systems with gas producing wells or gas fields, gas wells or gas fields capable of producing gas in commercial quantities, and to assist in the gathering of either private "in-kind" royalty or state-owned "in-kind" royalty, or both, the commissioner may lease from any person, firm, corporation, partnership or association, under the best terms and conditions as the commissioner may be able to prudently negotiate, a pipeline system or systems, or parts thereof, presently existing or hereinafter being built, including pipelines, pumps, storage and all other facilities, structures, and projects incidental, necessary or useful in the production, transportation, distribution and delivery of intrastate natural gas and hydrocarbons, which, in the judgment of the commissioner may provide necessary facilities to make available supplies of intrastate natural gas to the residents, commercial businesses, and/or industries of Louisiana. The commissioner may also sublease to any person any pipeline which he may so acquire, upon the best terms and conditions as the commissioner may be able to prudently negotiate, including a rental based upon a scheduled payment to be made for each 1000 cubic feet of gas transported through the subleased line in amounts determined by the commissioner to reasonably assure payment of the rental under the lease from the anticipated supply of gas to be transported during the term of the lease. The commissioner is not authorized to enter into a lease as authorized herein until he has first determined that no other pipeline is or will be available to transport the particular supply of intrastate natural gas in question to the residents, commercial businesses, and/or industries of Louisiana, for the reason that this special power of the commissioner is to be utilized only for the purpose of making available to the residents, commercial businesses and/or industries of Louisiana supplies of intrastate natural gas which might otherwise not be made available for production and distribution or which might otherwise not be available for input into the intrastate pipeline distribution or transportation systems within the state of Louisiana. Added by Acts 1973, Ex.Sess., No. 16, §1, emerg. eff. Dec. 8, 1973, at 9:55 A.M.