Case No. RG272-00195

July 21, 1997

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Applications for Refund

Names of Petitioners: Polish Ocean Lines et al.

Dates of Filing: May 4, 1995 et al.

Case Numbers: RG272-195 et al.

This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund that were submitted by 24 maritime shipping companies. These companies purchased refined petroleum products during their vessels’ visits to ports in the United States from August 19, 1973, through January 27, 1981 (the crude oil price control period). The applicants have requested refunds from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) pursuant to the OHA's authority under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. The names of the applicants and the amounts of refined petroleum products that they purchased are set forth in the appendices to this Decision.

This refund proceeding was instituted to allow purchasers of refined petroleum products during the price control period to apply to the OHA for a refund from crude oil overcharge funds collected by the DOE. Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). 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 crude oil price control period. E.g., Berry Holding Co., 16 DOE ¶ 85,405 (1987); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85,495 (1987); Mountain Fuel Supply Co., 14 DOE ¶ 85,475 (1986).

The refund procedures set forth in these cases specify that in order to receive a refund, an applicant generally must (1) document its purchase volumes and (2) show that it was injured by alleged crude oil 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 not covered by the DOE's or its predecessors' price controls are presumed to have been injured.

Generally, a claimant is eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons it purchased multiplied by $0.0016. We derived this 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 applicant seeks a refund based on its estimated purchases of bunker fuel during the refund period. (1)In arriving at these estimates, the applicants multiplied the average daily fuel consumption for each ship that they operated by the number of days that each voyage lasted. In addition, the applicants have provided information concerning the frequency of their vessels’ refueling stops in the U.S. Some applicants have indicated that they purchased all of their fuel in the United States during the refund period because U.S. fuel prices were substantially lower than prices in other ports. Others have stated that the nature of their businesses made it more economical to purchase some of their fuel in foreign ports. In each instance, we have examined the information submitted and we conclude that the estimation techniques used are reasonable and that the volumes claimed reflect accurately the applicants’ purchases. We will therefore approve these gallonage claims.

Each applicant purchased its refined petroleum products for use in a business that is unrelated to the petroleum industry and did not resell those products. The applicants are therefore end-users of refined petroleum products and are presumed to have been injured by the crude oil overcharges. Accordingly, the applicants are entitled to receive their full allocable shares of the crude oil monies.

The refund amount granted to each applicant is set forth in the appendices to this Decision and Order. The total volume approved in this Decision is 607,878,003 gallons of refined petroleum products, and the total of the refunds granted is $972,606.

The final deadline for applications in the crude oil refund proceeding was June 30, 1995. It is the current policy of the DOE to pay eligible crude oil refund claimants at the rate of $0.0016 per gallon. We will decide whether sufficient crude oil overcharge funds are available for additional refunds for these applicants 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 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 refunds totaling $972,606 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account denominated Crude Tracking - Claimants 4, Account Number 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of the Treasury, to the applicants set forth in the appendices to this Decision. The refunds for the applicants set forth in appendix A shall be sent to the addresses indicated in that appendix. The refunds for the applicants set forth in appendix B shall be made payable to: “[Applicant’s Name] or Wilson, Keller & Associates,” and shall be sent to the following address: P.O. Box 221145, Memphis, TN, 38122.

(3) To facilitate the payment of any future refunds, the applicant 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 materials submitted by the applicants. 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: July 21, 1997

(1)Interested parties were provided with an opportunity to submit comments regarding individual crude oil refund applications. No such comments were filed with respect to the applications considered in this Decision.


Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT CONTACT STREET ADDRESS CITY/STATE VOLUME REFUND
RG272-00195 POLISH OCEAN LINES C/O STANLEY STRZEPEK C/O AGENT: GDYNIA AMERICAN LINES P.O. BOX 265 GDYNIA, POLAND, 59,307,105 $94,891
RG272-00364 EGON OLDENDORFF C/O HANS-JURGEN WOLF P.O. BOX 2135; D-23509 LUBECK, GERMANY, 91,140,174 $145,824
Totals: 2       150,447,279 $240,715
             
             
CASE NO. APPLICANT FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND  
RG272-00398 FRENCH MARITIME SERVICE CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O LEMAUSSE YVES 538,610 $862  
RG272-00399 ATHENIAN TANKERS MGMT. S.A. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O GEORGE XANTHOPOULOS 1,699,215 $2,719  
RG272-00403 JAN C. ULTERWYK CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O DON STICHTER 41,700,458 $66,721  
RG272-00404 AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL LINE, LTD. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O ANDREW STEWART 66,226,200 $105,962  
RG272-00405 MOSVOLD SHIPPING CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O J. SOLVIK 45,067,884 $72,109  
RG272-00406 ATHEL LINE, LTD. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES OR TATE & LYLE 994,985 $1,592  
RG272-00408 FEARNLEY & EGER A.S. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES CREDITORS COMMITTEE 7,618,055 $12,189  
RG272-00410 HANJIN SHIPPING CO., LTD. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O B.J. KWAK 158,421,283 $253,474  
RG272-00412 SURINAME LINES OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O KENNETH KEIZERWEERD 302,340 $484  
RG272-00414 CANADIAN PACIFIC (BERMUDA) LTD OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O JOHN GRIFFIN 1,312,804 $2,100  
RG272-00415 PETER DOHLE SCHIFFAHRTS K.G. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O WERNER GERDTS 614,166 $983  
RG272-00416 DIAKAN SHIPPING S.A. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O MR. DIAKOPOULOS 33,179 $53  
RG272-00418 COSTA ARMATORI S.P.A. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O GIACOMO COSTA IV 19,960,481 $31,937  
RG272-00421 SPLOSNA PLOYBA OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O EGON BANDELJ 45,517,584 $72,828  
RG272-00422 H/F EIMSKIPAFELAG ISLANDS OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O THORGILS AMUNDASON 4,580,603 $7,329  
RG272-00543 DAMMERS & VAN DER HEIDE OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O EILDERT VAN SLOOTEN 3,153,413 $5,045  
RG272-00545 CHANDRIS OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O S.H. SYNODINOS 662,241 $1,060  
RG272-00546 CHANDRIS AMERICA LINES OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O C.H. SYNODINOS 186,174 $298  
RG272-00563 OKEANIA S.A. LIBERIA OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O MARKOS A. FOROS 4,429,156 $7,087  
RG272-00564 SCHULTE & BRUNS K.G. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O BENGT FISCHER 2,883,139 $4,613  
RG272-00570 PAN-ISLAMIC SS CO. LTD. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O RODNEY COOK 3,539,706 $5,664  
RG272-00571 FAC SHIPPING LTD. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O BARDENFLETH HANSEN 47,989,048 $76,782  
Totals: 22     457,430,724 $731,891  
             


Last Updated on 7/21/97
By OHA