Case No. RF300-16557
November 19, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Name of Petitioner: Gulf Oil Corporation /
Western Mountain Oil Company, Inc.
Date of Filing: April 26, 1991
Case Number: RF300-16557
This Decision and Order will consider the Application for Refund filed in the Gulf Oil Corporation (Gulf) overcharge refund proceeding by Western Energetix Corporation. Western Energetix filed its Application through Wilson, Keller & Associates, a private filing service. The Application is based upon the applicants purchases of Gulf petroleum products during the Gulf consent order period (January 1, 1973 through January 27, 1981). Western Energetix was called Western Mountain Oil Company, Inc., during the consent order period. It changed its name to Western Energetix in 1983. Western Energetix 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 a presumption that firms claiming refunds of more than $5,000 but less than $50,000, excluding interest, (mid-range applicants) need only document their purchase volumes of Gulf products to be eligible for forty percent of their allocable shares. Id.
Western Energetix elected not to prove injury and requested a refund under the mid-range applicant presumption of injury. To demonstrate its purchase volume, Western Energetix submitted a Gulf customer listing which shows Western Mountain Oil Company purchased 35,852,772 gallons of petroleum products from Gulf during the consent order period.
We have carefully reviewed the information submitted by Western Energetix, 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. Western Energetix 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. Western Energetixs allocable share is more than $5,000 but less than $50,000. Therefore, it will not be required to provide a separate, detailed demonstration that it absorbed the alleged overcharges, but will receive a refund based on the mid-range applicant presumption of injury.
Accordingly, Western Energetix will receive a refund amount equal to forty percent of 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 in this Decision and Order is 35,852,772 gallons of refined petroleum products, and the refund granted is $17,926 (35,852,772 gallons x .4 x $.00125 = $17,926).
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Refund filed by Western Energetix Corporation 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 $17,926 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury and funded by Gulf Oil Corporation, Consent Order No. RGFA00001Z, to Western Energetix Corporation or Wilson, Keller & Associates, Re: Western Mountain Oil Company, Inc., P.O. Box 221145, Memphis, TN, 38122.
(3) 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: November 19, 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/ 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 of $.00061 = $.00125).