Sunflower Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Tomlinson Oil Company, Inc.

Tomlinson Oil Company (Tomlinson) (defendant) held gas rights to a field where exploratory tests were promising but reserves remained unproven, and Tomlinson agreed to supply Sunflower Electric Cooperative (Sunflower) (plaintiff) a minimum daily quantity of natural gas from that field. The field's reserves proved far smaller than estimated, and Tomlinson could not deliver the contracted minimum; Sunflower bought the shortfall from another supplier at a higher price and sued for the cover costs, while the trial court held Tomlinson was excused under the doctrine of impossibility because the field's reserves were inadequate.