Case No. RF272-98909

October 15, 1998

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Applications for Refund

Names of Petitioners: St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Church et al.

Dates of Filing: July 6, 1994 et al.

Case Numbers: RF272-98909 et al.

This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund filed by 17 claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981. Each applicant listed in the Appendix attached to the Decision and Order has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986).

To receive a refund for crude oil overcharges, an applicant that was an end-user (i.e., consumer) of refined petroleum products must document its purchase volumes. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987). Each applicant's refund share is calculated using the current refund amount of $0.0016 per gallon.

We have reviewed the information submitted by these applicants and determined that each was an end-user of petroleum products. Each of the applicants has demonstrated the volume of its claim by consulting actual records or by using a reasonable estimation technique. The gallonage amounts listed in the Appendix to this Decision and Order reflect the approved purchase volume for each applicant.(1)

Each of the applicants listed in the Appendix is eligible to receive a refund. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendix. The applicants considered in this Decision applied either on their own behalf or through a private filing service. In accordance with each applicant's request, refund checks will be sent to either the applicant or its representative. The total volume for which refunds are approved in the Appendix is 134,870,943 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $215,793.

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 claimants listed in the Appendix 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 the refund amounts set forth in the Appendix to this Decision and Order from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to the applicants or their representative listed in the Appendix.

(3) The cooperative shall notify its membership of the receipt of the refund and shall pass through to its member customers all crude oil refunds received in Subpart V refund proceedings conducted by the Office of Hearings and Appeals.

(4) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, the applicants 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

(5) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based upon the presumed validity of the statements and documentary material submitted by the applicants. Any of these determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a finding that the basis underlying any refund application is incorrect.

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

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: October 15, 1998

(1)One applicant, Home Oil Co., is an agricultural cooperative. In Subpart V refund proceedings, we have generally regarded refund applications filed by cooperatives as claims filed on behalf of their members because cooperatives are in a position to pass through any refunds received to their members. Thus, to the extent that the volumes claimed by the cooperatives were sold to their members, the end-user presumption of injury is applicable to this claim. The cooperative has certified that it will pass through any refund to its members. Furthermore, we have subtracted from its gallonage claim the volume that the cooperative sold to non-members.

Two applicants, St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Church and Mount St. Joseph, submitted their gasoline purchases based on dollar figures. These dollar amounts were converted into gallons by using EIA’s State Energy Price and Expenditure Data System.

Three applicants, Hinkle Contracting Corp., Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Whiteford Transport Systems, were granted refunds in an earlier Decision. However, these applicants are requesting refunds based on additional purchases, and they have submitted the appropriate documentation.

Mount St. Joseph also requested a refund for its purchases of natural gas. Since natural gas is neither crude oil nor a product refined from crude oil, it is not eligible for a refund in this proceeding which is intended to refund crude oil overcharges. The portion of this applicant’s application pertaining to natural gas purchases will therefore be denied.

Appendix
CASE NO.APPLICANT CONTACTSTREET ADDRESSCITY/STATE VOLUMEREFUND
RF272-98909 ST. MARY OF MT. CARMEL CHURCHC/O TERRI PETRON 409 CENTRAL AVE.LONG PRAIRIE, MN 56347 88,268 $141
RF272-98912 MOUNT ST. JOSEPHC/O BARBARA HEAD 8001 CUMMINGS RD.MAPLE MOUNT, KY 42356 179,510 $287
RF272-98919 CRC INDUSTRIES, INC.C/O MICHAEL BARRETT 855 LOUIS DR.WARMINSTER, PA 18974 7,231,298 $11,570
RF272-98934 HOME OIL CO.C/O DON HAYES BOX 608OSCEOLA, AR 72370 26,651,424 $42,642
RF272-98943 FRANK M. REICHEN, D.D.S. 4402 STAGE RD.MEMPHIS, TN 38128572711,461 $18
RF272-98944 HILLTOP BASIC RESOURCES, INC.C/O GENE DEMETER 1 W. 4TH ST., #1100CINCINNATI, OH 4520236155,616,500 $8,986
RF272-98947 BRYSON I.S.D.C/O WELDON KOEPF BOX 309BRYSON, TX 76427 64,360 $103
RF272-98954 MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGHC/O DESI MAYO 350 E. DAHLIA AVE.PALMER, AK 99645 4,655,820 $7,449
RF272-98955 CROWN AIRLINES, INC.OR WILLIAM F. DAVIS P.O. BOX 6ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87103 950,000 $1,520
RF272-98956 HINKLE CONTRACTING CORP.C/O KIM WARREN P.O. BOX 200PARIS, KY 40362 37,705,827 $60,329
RF272-98957 WOODWORTH & CO., INC.C/O WILLIAM STARKS 1200 E. D ST.TACOMA, WA 98421 26,603,085 $42,565
RF272-98967 WYOMING CENTRAL SCHOOLC/O LISA N. RYAN OR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC.P.O. BOX 1380PARIS, TN 382429986142,215 $228
RF272-98970 MARTINAIR HOLLAND N.V.C/O ROBERT J. VONS P.O. BOX 7507; 1118 AZ SCHIPOHOTHE NETHERLANDS, 12,398,000 $19,837
RF272-98978 CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRITC/O VIRGIL A. HELMIN 2405 WALDEN WAYST. CLOUD, MN 56301 246,986 $395
RF272-98988 CADILLAC OIL CO.C/O RODGER PICEU 13650 HELEN AVE.DETROIT, MI 48212 1,331,564 $2,131
RF272-98989 BOB WOMBLEROBERT WOMBLE P.O. BOX 42MORSE, TX 79062 237,984 $381
RG272-00542 WHITEFORD TRANSPORT SYSTEMSC/O RONALD W. WHITEFORD OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES P.O. BOX 221145MEMPHIS, TN 38122 10,756,641 $17,211
TOTALS: 17       134,870,943 $215,793
             


Last Updated on 9/1/98
By OHA