Case No. RK272-03820

January 7, 1997

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Supplemental Order

Name of Applicant: Tampa Shipyards, Inc./Tampa Shipbuilding Co.

Date of Filing: July 8, 1996

Case Number: RK272-03820

This Decision and Order will consider an Application for Supplemental Refund filed in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding by Tampa Shipbuilding Co. (TSC).(1) The Application is based upon purchases of refined petroleum products made by Tampa Shipyards, Inc. (Shipyards) from August 1973 to January 1981.

In the Application, TSC explains that it bought the assets of Shipyards on September 15, 1995, following Shipyards' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and subsequent dissolution. Although the contact person at TSC declined to submit a copy of the sales agreement between TSC and Shipyards, he confirmed that the sale involved assets only. TSC did not purchase the capital stock of Shipyards.

We have a statutory duty to identify and provide restitution to injured persons. 15 U.S.C. § 4502 (b). We would be negligent in discharging that duty if we granted a refund to someone other than an identified injured person. Texaco/Huffy Gas, 22 DOE ¶ 85,220 at 88,586 n. 4. Therefore, the refund procedures we have established provide that the right to receive a refund generally remains with the owner of a firm during the price control period. Nevertheless, the right to receive a refund can be transferred to a subsequent owner of the firm if: (i) the firm is a corporation, the entire capital stock of which was purchased by the subsequent owner; or (ii) the firm's

assets were sold under an agreement that indicated, either explicitly or implicitly, that potential refunds were being transferred. Mrs. M.B. Troy, 23 DOE ¶ 85,049 (1993).

TSC did not purchase any of the capital stock of Shipyards in the 1995 sales agreement. In addition, there is no indication in the Application that the right to receive future crude oil refund monies was either explicitly or implicitly included in the sales agreement. As such, the owners of the capital stock of Shipyards did not relinquish their right to receive the supplemental crude oil refund based on the company's petroleum purchases during the price control period. We will therefore deny the Application submitted by Tampa Shipbuilding Co.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Application for Supplemental Refund filed by Tampa Shipyards, Inc./Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Case No. RK272-03820, is hereby denied.

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

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: January 7, 1997

(1) For information pertaining to the Supplemental Distribution of Subpart V Crude Oil Refund Monies, see State of Montana, et al., 25 DOE ¶ 85,059 (1995).