In the case of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Martin Exploration Management Co., et al., 1987, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The dispute centered around whether FERC had jurisdiction over certain natural gas contracts under the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978. Martin Exploration Management Company and other producers argued that their contracts were exempt from FERC's authority because they fell into a category known as "old gas" or "vintage" sales, which are typically not subject to federal price regulation. However, Justice Thurgood Marshall writing for a unanimous court disagreed with this interpretation and held that these particular sales were indeed within FERC's regulatory purview based on language in Section 104(b)(2) of the act. This decision affirmed FERC’s ability to regulate prices for all first sales of natural gas including those involving intrastate transactions.

In the dissenting opinion for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Martin Exploration Management Co., Justice Scalia argued that the majority misinterpreted the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA). He contended that Congress intended to provide a specific, higher price for "new gas" produced from tight sands formations and did not intend this category to be temporary or subject to reclassification by FERC. The justice believed that FERC's decision to reclassify certain wells as producing "old gas," thus reducing their entitled price, was contrary to congressional intent. Furthermore, he criticized the court's deference towards administrative agencies' interpretations of statutes they are charged with administering when those interpretations contradict clear statutory language and purpose.