Case No. RR300-00287
January 7, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Motion for Reconsideration
Names of Petitioners: Gulf Oil Corporation /
Richards Gulf Service
Dates of Filing: August 7, 1996
Case Numbers: RR300-287
On August 7, 1996, Richards Gulf Service (Richards) filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE). If the Motion were granted, the OHA would reconsider the Application for Refund filed by Richards in the Gulf Oil Corporation overcharge refund proceeding (Case No. RF300-18709) that was dismissed on February 7, 1996.
On December 2, 1991, Richards submitted an Application for Refund. This application was based upon Richard's purchases of Gulf branded products during the Gulf consent order period, January 1, 1973 through January 27, 1981. The application was signed by an attorney. We require, however, that each application contain the original signature of the applicant. On February 28, 1994, we contacted Wilson, Keller & Associates, Richards' representative, and requested that they submit a copy of the application with the original signature of George Richard, the owner of Richards Gulf Service. After the passage of more than a year, we had not received a response and we decided to dismiss the application. Shortly after the dismissal, we received a copy of the application signed by Mr. Richard's widow, Nancie Richard. Mrs. Richard is also the Administrator of the Estate of George Richard.
In its August 7, 1996 Motion for Reconsideration, Richards asks us to reconsider our dismissal. Since Richards responded to our request as quickly as it was able to, we believe that a dismissal would unfairly penalize Richards, and we have decided to grant Richards' Motion for Reconsideration. We will therefore analyze the application.
Richards has requested a refund from Gulf funds available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) under the provisions of 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. The procedures for disbursing the Gulf funds were set forth in a Decision and Order on September 8, 1987. Gulf Oil Corp., 16 DOE ¶ 85,381 (Gulf).
In Gulf, we adopted a presumption that the alleged Gulf overcharges attributable to refined products had been dispersed equally in all sales of refined products made by Gulf during the consent order period. Gulf, 16 DOE at 88,736. We stated that, in the absence of a demonstration of a disproportionate overcharge, a claimant would be allocated a share of the consent order funds on a volumetric basis. We provided that eligible claimants would receive $.00064 per gallon of covered Gulf product purchased.(1)Id. at 88,739. We established that a refiner, reseller, or retailer claimant generally would be required to demonstrate that it was injured as a result of its Gulf purchases; that is, that it did not pass through to its customers Gulf's alleged overcharges. However, we established a presumption that firms claiming refunds of $5,000 or less would not be required to demonstrate that they absorbed the alleged overcharges. Id. at 88,740. We also established that end- users or ultimate consumers whose businesses are unrelated to the petroleum industry were injured by the alleged refined product overcharges. Id. Thus, end-user claimants need only document their purchase volumes of Gulf products to make a sufficient showing that they were injured by the alleged overcharges. Id.
We have carefully reviewed the information submitted Richards, and we have determined that the information required of applicants by the Gulf Decision has been submitted in this case. Id. at 88,741- 42. Richards has not demonstrated that it suffered a disproportionate overcharge as a result of Gulf's alleged overcharges. Accordingly, its allocable share of the Gulf fund will be based on the volumetric approach described above. Richards' allocable share is less than $5,000. Therefore, it will not be required to provide a separate, detailed demonstration that it absorbed the alleged overcharges.
Accordingly, Richards will receive a refund amount equal to its allocable share (the principal amount), as well as interest accrued on the principal since the consent order funds were placed in escrow.(2)The total volume approved for Richards in this Decision
and Order is 1,959,782 gallons of refined petroleum products, and the refund granted is $2,450.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Motion for Reconsideration filed by Richards Gulf Service is hereby granted as set forth in paragraph (2) below.
(2) The Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of Departmental Accounting and Financial Systems Development, Office of the Controller of the Department of Energy shall take appropriate action to disburse a total of $2,450 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury and funded by Gulf Oil Corporation, Consent Order No. RGFA00001Z.
(3) The refund check should be sent to "The Estate of George Richard or Wilson, Keller & Associates, Re: Richards Gulf Service, P.O. Box 221145, Memphis, TN, 38122."
(4) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based on the presumed validity of statements and documentary material submitted by the applicant. Any of these determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the factual basis underlying any Application for Refund is incorrect.
(4) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: January 7, 1997
(1)1/ This amount was derived by dividing the fund received from Gulf allocable to refined products ($42,499,566) by the estimated volume of refined products sold by Gulf from August 1973 through the date of decontrol of the relevant product (66,387,563,569 gallons). Id.
(2)2/ Interest has been computed on the basis of 7 percent compounded yearly since June 20, 1985, the date that Gulf remitted the consent order funds to the DOE. Each applicant's refund amount will be calculated by multiplying its approved gallonage by the total volumetric to date, which is $.00125 (principal volumetric of $.00064 + interest volumetric to date of $.00061 = $.00125).