Valero Natural Gas Partners LP 49 pct owned by Valero Energy Corp &lt;VLO> said a jury in Sutton County Texas district court has found that it had no liability for 21 mln dlrs in take-or-pay claims that had been alleged by Lively Exploration Co. Take-or-pay claims involve allegations that natural gas supply contracts require volume of natural gas to be paid for even if not taken. As a result of declining markets most pipelines like Valero do not have customers for all the gas that could be delivered by producers such as Lively. Valero said it used as its primary defense the Texas Railroad Commissions rules that require intrastate pipelines to take ratably from their producers and in times of surplus take gas in accordance with priority categories set by the commission.
VALERO PARTNERS <VLP> WINS TAKE OR PAY CASE