Bankline Oil Co. v. Commissioner

30 T.C. 475, 1958 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 177, 8 Oil & Gas Rep. 1295
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 29, 1958
DocketDocket No. 60671
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 30 T.C. 475 (Bankline Oil Co. v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bankline Oil Co. v. Commissioner, 30 T.C. 475, 1958 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 177, 8 Oil & Gas Rep. 1295 (tax 1958).

Opinion

Withey, Judge:

The respondent determined a deficiency of $14,-342.52 in the income tax of the petitioner for 1952. Issues for determination are the correctness of the respondent’s action in failing to determine that the amounts of $85,000 and $11,272.40, received by petitioner pursuant to certain transactions involving “casinghead gas” contracts, constituted long-term capital gain and were taxable as such.

FINDINGS OP PACT.

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

The petitioner is a California corporation, organized in 1912, and has its principal office in Los Angeles, California. It filed its income tax return for 1952 with the district director in that city. During the years involved herein the petitioner kept its books and filed its income tax returns on an accrual basis.

The petitioner’s business consists of the processing of casinghead gas, hereinafter sometimes referred to as wet gas, derived from the production of petroleum oils into its separate ingredients, including natural gasoline, dry gas and propane gas, and the operation of a petroleum refinery where natural gasoline is blended with other gasoline and after being refined is purveyed to the public through retail outlets. Its refinery is located at Bakersfield, California. Its processing plants were during 1952 and prior thereto located in Santa Fe Springs, Maricopa, and Signal Hill, California. An important determining factor with respect to profitable operation of a casinghead gas processing plant is the availability of an adequate supply of gas so that the plant may be operated at as nearly as possible its full capacity.

More than 6 months prior to November 1, 1952, petitioner had entered into eight separate contracts with oil producers, hereinafter referred to as producers, for the acquisition by it of casinghead gas produced from drilling operations in the Signal Hill Oil Field. The contracts generally each provided that petitioner was to install and maintain pipelines from producers’ wells or gas traps to its Signal Hill processing plant; that it equip the lines with meters so that accurate account might be kept of all gas emanating from the wells of individual producers; that the producer would deliver the wet gas produced at his wells to the pipeline; that petitioner was to process the gas and pay each producer a percentage of the total gross proceeds derived from petitioner’s sale or use of the natural gasoline and propane gas extracted by such processing. The producer had an option to receive payment in kind if he so desired. Upon completion of the processing, petitioner had the right to sell to others all of the product not required to be returned to the producer and thereupon to pay the producer, not being paid in kind, a stipulated percentage of the gross sale price received. Petitioner had the right to and did use natural gasoline so derived in its refinery and to pay the producer an equivalent royalty therefor based upon the market price thereof.

The natural gasoline used by petitioner in its refinery under the contracts referred to was not the identical gasoline resulting from its processing operation. Such gasoline was obtained at its Bakersfield refinery from Standard Oil Company of California through an exchange agreement with that concern. By virtue of the exchange agreement petitioner escaped the cost of transporting its natural gasoline from its processing plant at Signal Hill to the refinery.

The Signal Oil and Gas Company, hereinafter referred to as Signal, owned and operated a processing plant for casinghead gas located in the Signal Hill Oil Field. During the fall of 1952 petitioner determined that the operation of its processing plant in Signal Hill was unprofitable or in danger of becoming so because of an inadequate source of supply of gas and for that reason sought a profitable method of divesting itself of its processing plants and equipment. To that end, in the fall of 1952, it began negotiations with Signal for sale to the latter of its processing plant in Signal Hill. On November 1, 1952, the negotiations culminated in the sale by petitioner to Signal of its Signal Hill processing plant, pipelines, pipes, meters, and fittings in the Signal Hill Oil Field (except the pipelines, pipes, meters, and fittings located on the properties from which wet gas was currently being delivered under the above-mentioned eight contracts with oil producers), together with other properties owned by petitioner consisting of oil leases, interest in lands and gasoline storage and pier facilities located in Santa Barbara County, California.

On the same date, a separate agreement was entered into by petitioner and Signal. This agreement was effected by petitioner’s acceptance on November 1, 1952, of the following offer of Signal contained in a letter addressed to petitioner and dated October 29,1952:

Subject to tbe conditions and for the considerations hereafter set forth, Signal Oil and Gas Company hereby offers to purchase from you the following properties, to wit:
All leases, gas contracts or other purchase agreements held by Bankline for the purchase or processing of wet gas from properties located in the Signal Hill Oil Field. A schedule of said instruments is hereunto attached and by this reference made a part hereof and marked Exhibit “A.”
Signal Oil and Gas Company offers to pay for the above described properties the sum of $85,000.00, plus further sums of money calculated in the following manner:
Signal shall process said wet gas, or cause said wet gas to be processed, at its plant in the Signal Hill Oil Field or at such other plant or plants as Signal shall hereafter elect, whether or not said plants shall be owned and/or operated by Signal. All dry gas resulting from said operations not required to be returned to the properties from which produced shall be sold by Signal and the net sales price paid to Bankline monthly. All natural gasoline and LPG Propane extracted by Signal from said wet gas shall likewise be sold by Signal at the average price it receives for like products sold by Signal, and Signal shall pay Bankline monthly a sum of money equal to the sales price of said natural gasoline and LPG Propane, less the following sums, to wit:
The sum of 2%$ per gallon on all natural gasoline and the sum of 1%$ per gallon on all LPG Propane.
Said deductions are based upon the present price of 8.33$ per gallon posted by Standard Oil Company of Oalifornia for 21# R. V. P. natural gasoline in the Signal Hill Oil Field and shall be increased or decreased at the times and in direct proportion to any increase or decrease above or below said price of 8.33$ per gallon posted by Standard Oil Company of California for 21# R. V. P. natural gasoline in the Signal Hill Oil Field.
Connections shall be established between the wet gas lines presently owned and operated by Bankline and those presently owned and operated by Signal at two locations, to wit: in the proximity of Temple and Hill Streets and in the proximity of Willow and Walnut Streets, Signal Hill, and transmission of said gas shall be made at said points or at other points if in Signal’s judgment other connections shall be required.

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Related

Bankline Oil Co. v. Commissioner
30 T.C. 475 (U.S. Tax Court, 1958)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
30 T.C. 475, 1958 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 177, 8 Oil & Gas Rep. 1295, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bankline-oil-co-v-commissioner-tax-1958.