Case No. RF272-86257

June 27, 1997

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Applications for Refund

Names of Petitioners: Pennebaker Equipment Co. et al.

Dates of Filing: January 25, 1991 et al.

Case Numbers: RF272-86257 et al.

This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund filed by 14 claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981. Each applicant listed in the Appendices attached to the Decision and Order has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986).

In order to receive a refund for crude oil overcharges, an applicant that was an end-user (i.e., consumer) of refined petroleum products must document its purchase volumes. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987). Each applicant's refund share is calculated using the current refund amount of $0.0016 per gallon.

We have reviewed the information submitted by these applicants and determined that each was an end-user of petroleum products.(1) Each of the applicants has demonstrated the volume of its claim by consulting actual records or by using a reasonable estimation technique. The gallonage amounts listed in the

Appendices to this Decision and Order reflect the approved purchase volume for each applicant.(2)

Each of the applicants listed in the Appendices is eligible to receive a refund. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendices. The applicants considered in this Decision applied either on their own behalf or through a private filing service. In accordance with each applicant's request, refund checks will be sent to the applicant or the applicant's representative. The total volume for which refunds are approved in Appendix A in this Decision is 12,494,447 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $19,990 and the total volume for which refunds are approved in Appendix B in this Decision is 409,368,654 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $654,991.

We will decide whether sufficient crude oil overcharge funds are available for additional refunds for these and other successful applicants when we are better able to determine how much additional money will be collected from firms that have either outstanding obligations to the DOE or enforcement cases currently in litigation.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Applications for Refund filed by the claimants listed in the Appendices to this Decision and Order for all available crude oil overcharge funds are hereby approved 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 the refund amounts set forth in the Appendices to this Decision and Order from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4 Account No. 999DOE010Z to the applicants listed in the Appendices.

For those applicants listed in Appendix A, the checks should be made payable to the applicant and sent to the address indicated in the Appendix.

For those applicants listed in Appendix B, the checks should be made payable to “[the applicant] or Wilson, Keller & Associates” and sent to:

Wilson, Keller & Associates

P.O. Box 221145

Memphis, TN 38122

(3) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, the applicants shall notify the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the event that there is a change of address, or if an address correction is necessary. Such notification shall be sent to:

Director of Management Information

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Department of Energy

1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20585-0107

(4) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based upon the presumed validity of the statements and documentary material submitted by the applicants. Any of these determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a finding that the basis underlying any refund application is incorrect.

(5) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: June 27, 1997

(1)Interested parties were given an opportunity to submit comments regarding individual crude oil refund applications. No such comments were filed with respect to any application involved in this determination.

(2)One applicant, Hicks Co. (Case No. RR272-00292), has filed a Motion for Reconsideration of a Decision and Order that was issued by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) on March 13, 1997. In that Decision, the OHA approved a refund for 70,802,492 gallons of petroleum products purchased by Hicks. In the motion, it was bought to our attention, that purchases for dryer fuel were excluded from the original claim. Because the total purchases for two products (liquid asphalt and dryer fuel) appeared to have been combined, the dryer fuel purchases were inadvertently excluded. Therefore, Hicks’s application will be approved for an additional 6,347,722 gallons of petroleum products.

Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT CONTACT STREET ADDRESS CITY/STATE VOLUME REFUND
RF272-86257 PENNEBAKER EQUIPMENT CO. OR LEE PENNEBAKER C/O OIL & GAS AUDIT SERVICE 2 LAKESIDE DR. VICKSBURG, MS 39180 3,700,000 $5,920
RF272-86819 TRANSERVICE LEASE CORP. C/O ERICK SKLAR 5 DAKOTA DRIVE LAKE SUCCESS, NY 11042 1,307,100 $2,091
RF272-86820 TRANSERVICE LEASE CORP. C/O ERIC SKLAR 5 DAKOTA DRIVE LAKE SUCCESS, NY 11042 1,007,632 $1,612
RF272-86889 CITY OF LACRESCENT C/O DEBRA SHIMSHAK OR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC. P.O. BOX 1380 PARIS, TN 382429986 131,993 $211
RR272-00292 HICKS CO. OR THOMAS A. HICKS 10380 E. WING RD. SHEPHERD, MI 48883 6,347,722 $10,156
Totals: 5       12,494,447 $19,990
             
             
CASE NO. APPLICANT FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND  
RG272-00430 YUGOSLAV AIRLINES OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O ZORAN POPOVIC 22,725,344 $36,361  
RG272-00434 VIASA OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O EDUARDO MARTINEZ 116,334,025 $186,134  
RG272-00436 SHAWNEE AIRLINES OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O HELEN HAUCK 1,413,746 $2,262  
RG272-00437 KODIAK AIRWAYS, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O HOWARD G. FOWLER 2,584,734 $4,136  
RG272-00440 MEXICANA DE AVIACION OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O ALBERTO CABREJAS BRAU 134,285,610 $214,857  
RG272-00471 NATIONWIDE PRODUCE CO. C/O WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O JOHN MILIA 2,215,465 $3,545  
RG272-00547 GARUDA INDONESIA AIRWAYS OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O SOEDARKO 4,116,470 $6,586  
RG272-00552 RIO AIRWAYS, INC. C/O WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O RANDOLPH OSHEROW 37,642,838 $60,229  
RG272-00554 AIR JAMAICA OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O PAMELA MCLEAN 88,050,422 $140,881  
Totals: 9     409,368,654 $654,991  
             


Last Updated on 7/2/97
By OHA