Section 38-08-19 - Common purchasers - Discrimination in purchasing prohibited1. Every person, association of persons, corporation, or limited liability company now engaged or hereafter engaging in the business of purchasing crude petroleum in this state shall be a common purchaser thereof.2. Every common purchaser of crude petroleum shall, without discrimination in favor of one producer or royalty owner as against another in the same marketing district as determined by the commission, purchase all oil tendered to it at the wellhead or at its receiving terminal, which has been lawfully produced, provided that no common purchaser may be required to purchase crude petroleum of inferior quality or grade, or which is unsuitable for its operations.3. Whenever a common purchaser is unable to purchase all of the oil tendered to it hereunder, it shall purchase ratably from each marketing district, field, pool, or well, with respect to which such tenders are made. As between wells, purchases shall be considered ratable only if such purchases are made in proportion to the allowables which are or would be assigned to such wells under existing commission rules and regulations, and, as between marketing districts or fields or pools, purchases may be considered ratable if such purchases are made in proportion to the sum of the allowables which are or would be assigned to all wells from which tenders are made in each such marketing district or field or pool.4. Every common purchaser of crude petroleum is hereby expressly prohibited from discriminating in favor of its own production or that of an affiliate as against that of others, and the oil produced by such common purchaser or by an affiliate of such common purchaser must be treated as that of any other producer for the purposes of ratable taking.5. It is unlawful for any common purchaser to discriminate between oil transported from the wellhead to its receiving terminal in favor of one carrier of crude oil as against another, and nothing herein may be construed to prevent any person, association of persons, corporation, or limited liability company from transporting crude oil from wellhead to receiving terminal of said common purchaser from properties in which such person, association of persons, corporation, or limited liability company may own an interest, and such person, association of persons, corporation, or limited liability company may not be deemed to be in the business of purchasing, or of purchasing and selling crude petroleum within the meaning of this section. Nothing herein may be construed to prohibit any common purchaser from requiring that proper and reasonable facilities be erected and maintained at its receiving terminal by any person, association of persons, corporation, or limited liability company transporting crude oil to such terminal, requiring that a surety bond be posted indemnifying said common purchaser from liability for the transporter's failure to properly account to the owners of crude oil so transported, or posting a just and reasonable handling charge for accepting delivery at its receiving terminal.6. The provisions of this section cover the purchase, or purchase and sale of crude petroleum, and that gathering, handling, marketing, and all other charges assessed by a common purchaser against crude oil produced within this state must be just and reasonable. The commission, after notice and hearing as provided in section 38-08-11, may determine the justness and reasonableness of charges on its own motion or upon motion of any interested person.