Resources Investment Corp. v. Enron Corp.

Enron Corporation (Enron) (defendant) agreed under various contracts to buy a specified amount of gas each year from Resources Investment Corporation (Resources) (plaintiff) over 18 years, paying for the full contracted amount regardless of whether it accepted delivery, with unused gas rolling forward to later years. When Enron eventually breached, Resources sued for damages and a declaration that Enron must keep performing, and Enron raised counterclaims and defenses arguing its breach was excused by foreign competition, unusually warm winters, economic recession, unforeseeable gas-market changes, and new government regulations, which it claimed frustrated the contracts' purpose or made performance impossible or commercially impracticable. Resources moved to dismiss most of these counterclaims and defenses.