Case No. RF272-98706
May 1, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Applications for Refund
Names of Petitioners: Southwest Research Institute et al.
Dates of Filings: July 5, 1994 et al
Case Numbers: RF272-98706 et al
This Decision and Order will consider the Applications for Refund filed by fifteen claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973, through January 27, 1981 (the crude oil price control period). Each applicant has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. We have established refund procedures for these funds, which have been made available through consent orders entered into by the DOE and numerous firms that sold crude oil during the price control period. E.g., Berry Holding Co., 16 DOE ¶ 85,405 (1987) (Berry); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85,495 (1987); Mountain Fuel Supply Co., 14 DOE ¶ 85,475 (1986).
In order to receive a refund for crude oil overcharges, an applicant generally must: (1) document its purchase volumes; and (2) show that it was injured as a result of the alleged overcharges. However, as we discussed in City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987), applicants who were end-users of petroleum products and whose businesses were unrelated to the petroleum industry are presumed to have absorbed the crude oil overcharges, and generally need not submit proof of injury to receive a refund in the Subpart V proceeding. See also Berry.
In general, a claimant is eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons it purchased multiplied by $0.0016 per gallon, the volumetric refund amount currently available. We derived the volumetric refund amount by dividing the total crude oil refund monies currently available by the total U.S. consumption of
petroleum products during the period of crude oil price controls (2,020,997,335,000 gallons).
Each of the applicants considered in this Decision and Order is an end-user. Each bought petroleum products to operate its business.
Each applicant has derived its purchase volume claim by using actual records or a reasonable estimation technique. We have carefully reviewed the information submitted by the applicants, and have determined that the information provided by the applicants sufficiently supports their requests for refunds.(1)
Since the applicants are end-users, they are presumed injured by the crude oil overcharges and are entitled to receive their full allocable share of the crude oil monies.(2) The refund amounts are calculated by multiplying the approved purchase volumes by the volumetric refund amount of $0.0016 per gallon. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendices. The total volume for which refunds are approved in this Decision is 26,599,801 gallons, and the sum of the refunds granted is $42,561.
Eleven of the applicants filed their Applications through Wilson, Keller & Associates, a private filing service. In accordance with these applicants' requests, their refund checks will be sent to Wilson, Keller & Associates. The other applicants will have their checks sent to them directly.
The final deadline for the crude oil refund proceeding was June 30, 1995. It is the current policy of the DOE to pay crude oil refund claimants at the current rate of $0.0016 per gallon. 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 fifteen 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 from the escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking- Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, the amounts specified in Appendices 1 and 2 to this Decision and Order to the applicants specified in those Appendices. The refund checks for the applicants listed in Appendix 1 should be sent to Wilson, Keller & Associates, P.O. Box 221135, Memphis, TN 38122.
(3) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, each applicant shall notify the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the event that there is a change in its 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. This Decision and Order may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the basis underlying a 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: May 1, 1997
(1)Two of the applicants, Southwest Research Institute, Case No. RF272-98706, and Brookshire Grocery Co., Case No. RF272-98741, submitted claims based on the gallonage for which each was granted a refund in the Gulf Oil Corp. (Gulf) refund proceeding. In that proceeding each submitted a printout from Gulf. As explained in other cases, we believe the Gulf printout includes all of these applicants 1973 purchase volume, and accordingly, must be reduced to account for the beginning of the crude oil refund period, August 1973. See, e.g., Carolina Dairies Corp. et al., Case No. RF272-97820 et al. (July 23, 1996). Therefore, we reduced each of these applicants volumes by approximately eight and one half months of 1973 purchases.
(2)2/ Two of the applicants, Air Freight Specialist Inc. (Air Freight), Case No. RF272-98709, and Rich International Airways, Inc. (Rich), Case No. RF272-98756, have each filed for bankruptcy. Air Freights crude oil refund application was filed on behalf of the applicants trustee-in-bankruptcy, Todd Esser. Mr. Esser is required to notify the bankruptcy court within 90 days of the date of issuance of this Decision and Order that this refund has been received. Rich, as the debtor-in-possession, must similarly notify the bankruptcy court within 90 days of the date of issuance of this Decision and Order that this refund has been received.
Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND RF272-98706 SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O PAUL EASLEY 2,564,450 $4,103 RF272-98709 AIR FREIGHT SPECIALIST INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O TODD ESSER, TRUSTEE 2,042,306 $3,268 RF272-98716 VIEQUES AIR LINK, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O OVALDO GONZALEZ 1,111,698 $1,779 RF272-98718 SIERRA PACIFIC AIRLINES, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O BETSY HANNON 2,557,012 $4,091 RF272-98726 FLOUR TRANSPORT, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O WALTER KEENEY 1,094,944 $1,752 RF272-98729 CORRIGAN MOVING & STORAGE CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O GREG LABOUNCY 613,094 $981 RF272-98737 EMPIRE COAL CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES COSTAIN COAL, INC. 3,171,004 $5,074 RF272-98739 M & M AIR SERVICE OF BEAUMONT OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O GEORGE MITCHELL, JR. 2,049,414 $3,279 RF272-98740 ELIZABETHTOWN WATER CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O EDWARD D. MULLEN 3,957,979 $6,333 RF272-98741 BROOKSHIRE GROCERY CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O GREG NORDYKE 1,066,072 $1,706 RF272-98756 RICH INT'L AIRWAYS, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O JOHN TKACH 4,379,731 $7,008 Totals: 11 24,607,704 $39,374 CASE NO. APPLICANT CONTACT STREET ADDRESS CITY/STATE VOLUME REFUND RF272-98764 TEXAS STEEL CULVERT CO., INC. C/O LAFON THOMPSON P.O. BOX 727 ARLINGTON, TX 76004 381,169 $610 RF272-98765 GOLDEN BELT MFG. CO. C/O JACK PRICE P.O. BOX 2332 DURHAM, NC 27702 1,198,091 $1,917 RF272-98769 LEONARD D. LAURITSEN RR 1, BOX 248 ARLINGTON, NE 68002 188,417 $301 RF272-98789 M & L WELL SERVICE, INC. C/O HAROLD MURBARGER P.O. BOX 670; RT. 130 S. OLNEY, IL 62450 224,420 $359 Totals: 4 1,992,097 $3,187
Last Updated on 7/10/97
By OHA