Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast, Inc. v. United States

Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast (Mobil) (plaintiff) paid the federal government (defendant) about $156 million for 10-year offshore oil-exploration leases, subject to then-existing statutes and regulations requiring the Department of Interior (DOI) to approve a qualifying exploration plan within 30 days. After Mobil submitted a draft plan and received a preliminary favorable environmental finding, Congress enacted the Outer Banks Protection Act (OBPA), which imposed a new environmental review and delayed formal approval of exploration plans by at least 13 months. Two days after OBPA's enactment, Mobil submitted its formal plan; the DOI later wrote that the plan was 'approvable in all respects' but that OBPA barred approval at that time, and the DOI never formally approved or denied it. Mobil sued for restitution of its $156 million, arguing the government had repudiated the contract; the Court of Federal Claims granted Mobil summary judgment, the Federal Circuit reversed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.