Case No. RF272-98728
May 22, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Applications for Refund
Names of Petitioners: B.F. Walker, Inc. et al.
Date of Filings: July 5, 1994
Case Numbers: RF272-98728 et al.
This Decision and Order will consider the Applications for Refund filed by four 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. 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 Appendix. The total volume for which refunds are approved in this Decision is 13,861,468 gallons, and the sum of the refunds granted is $22,178.
All of the applicants filed their Applications through Wilson, Keller & Associates, a private filing service. In accordance with the applicants' requests, their refund checks will be made payable to the applicants or Wilson, Keller & Associates and be sent to Wilson, Keller & Associates.
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 four claimants listed in the Appendix attached 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 the Appendix to this Decision and Order. The refund checks for the applicants listed in the Appendix shall be made payable to [Applicants Name] OR Wilson, Keller & Associates, and shall be sent to the following address: 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 22, 1997
(1)One applicant, Transervice Lease Corp., Case No. RF272-98753, also filed applications on behalf of three affiliates under Case Nos. RF272-86595, RF272-86819 and RF272-86820. After investigating the four applications, we are satisfied that none of the applications contain a claim for duplicate volumes.
Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND RF272-98728 B.F. WALKER, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O RICHARD P. KISSINGER 3,321,867 $5,315 RF272-98738 ATLAS FREIGHT LINES, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES ESTATE DONALD TREXLER 2,973,764 $4,758 RF272-98753 TRANSERVICE LEASE CORP. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O ERIC SKLAR 997,750 $1,596 RF272-98758 NEW JERSEY ZINC CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES VIACOM, INC. 6,568,087 $10,509 Totals: 4 13,861,468 $22,178
Last Updated on 7/9/97
By OHA