Conoco Inc. (Formerly Continental Oil Co.) v. Department of Energy

99 F.3d 387
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedJanuary 2, 1997
Docket95-1281
StatusPublished
Cited by67 cases

This text of 99 F.3d 387 (Conoco Inc. (Formerly Continental Oil Co.) v. Department of Energy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Conoco Inc. (Formerly Continental Oil Co.) v. Department of Energy, 99 F.3d 387 (Fed. Cir. 1997).

Opinions

[390]*390BRYSON, Circuit Judge.

Conoco Inc. appeals from a decision of the district court granting summary judgment to the Department of Energy (DOE) on its claim for restitution of crude oil pricing overcharges. The district court ordered Conoco to. deposit into an escrow account overcharges that were made on sales of crude oil from several oil-producing properties operated by Conoco. In re Dep’t of Energy Stripper Well Exemption Litig., 874 F.Supp. 1161 (D.Kan.1994). We vacate the order of summary judgment and remand to the district court for further proceedings.

I

During , the 1970s, the Federal Energy Administration, the predecessor to the Department of Energy, administered a system of price controls on the sale of crude oil. An important feature of the system was the “stripper well exemption,” under which the sale of so-called “stripper oil” was exempt from the price controls. Stripper oil was defined as crude oil produced from property with an average maximum daily production of less than 10 barrels per well. The FEA’s Ruling 1974-29, which interpreted the stripper well exemption, prohibited oil companies from counting “injection wells” (wells that are used to inject substances into underground reservoirs to force crude oil.out of the ground) in computing the daily per-well production in a particular field; the FEA ruling permitted oil companies to count only “recovery wells” (wells that actually extract crude oil from the underground reservoirs). The effect of Ruling 1974-29 was to increase the amount of crude oil produced per well on properties with injection wells and thus to reduce the number of properties that qualified for the “stripper well” exemption from the price controls.

A number of oil companies challenged Ruling 1974-29. The companies obtained preliminary injunctions barring the government from enforcing the Ruling, subject to the condition that any producer who took advantage of the injunction had to deposit into an escrow account the difference between the stripper well price and the controlled price for the crude oil affected by the injunction. When the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals reversed the district court and upheld the Ruling, DOE counterclaimed against certain of the oil producers, including Cono-co. DOE alleged that its audits of oil-producing properties showed that the producers had not deposited sufficient funds into the escrow account to cover the amount of the overcharges on crude oil sold while the “stripper well” injunctions were in effect.

DOE’s claims against Conoco related to several properties in which Conoco served as the “operator.” That is, Conoco conducted the oilfield operations for various “working interest owners,” investors who were entitled to a share of the proceeds of the field. Some of the interest owners had executed “division orders,” which permitted Conoco to sell their share of the production for them. Other interest owners took their share of the production in kind and sold it on their own. DOE’s claims in this case relate only to the in-kind production for each of the properties. The question presented to the district court was whether there were overcharges during the injunction period with respect to those in-kind sales and, if so, whether Conoco was liable to DOE for those overcharges.

The district court granted summary judgment in favor of DOE with respect to six of the subject properties, which are the only ones as to which there is any continuing dispute between the parties. The court held that DOE’s evidence established that Cono-co’s working interest owners had made overcharges on sales of oil from those properties, and it held that Conoco was liable for the full amount of those overcharges under the so-called “operator liability doctrine.” See In re Dep’t of Energy Stripper Well Exemption Litig. (W.R. Murfin v. U.S. Dep’t of Energy), 90 F.3d 1551 (Fed.Cir.1996); United States v. Exxon Corp., 773 F.2d 1240, 1269-72 (Temp.Emer.Ct.App.1985); Sauder v. Department of Energy, 648 F.2d 1341, 1347-49 (Temp.Emer.Ct.App.1981). In its judgment, the court ordered Conoco to contribute $9,275,125 plus interest into the escrow account. '

II

Conoeo’s first argument is that for five of the six properties at issue on this appeal the [391]*391only evidence in the record showing that overcharges occurred is inadmissible hearsay. With respect to two of the properties (North West Hewitt and O’Brien Strawn), the district court ruled that the evidence offered by DOE was admissible under the business records exception to the hearsay rule, Fed.R.Evid. 803(6). With respect to three other properties (Plum Bush Creek, North West Adell, and North West Velma Hoxbar), the district court ruled that the evidence offered by DOE was admissible under the residual exception to the hearsay rule, Fed.R.Evid. 803(24). We uphold the district court’s ruling with respect to the evidence admitted under the business records exception, but we reverse the district court’s ruling with respect to the evidence admitted under the residual exception.

A

To prove the overcharges attributable to the North West Hewitt field, the government submitted “run statements” that were provided to DOE by the successor to Cities Service Company (Cities). During the pertinent period, Cities purchased the crude oil produced from the North West Hewitt field from the 26 working interest owners who took their share of the production in kind. The run statements were offered to show that Cities paid stripper oil prices for the crude oil it purchased from that field.

To prove the overcharges attributable to the O’Brien Strawn field, the government submitted purchase invoices that had been provided to DOE by Conoco. Conoco had obtained the purchase statements from Koch Oil Company. During the pertinent period, Koch purchased the crude oil from that property from Getty Oil Company, the working interest owner that took its share of the production in kind. The purchase invoices were offered to show that Koch paid stripper oil prices for the crude oil it purchased from the O’Brien Strawn field.

The district court held that the run statements from Cities and the purchase statements from Koch were admissible as business records, and we agree. Rule 803(6) authorizes the admission, over a hearsay objection, of a record

made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the [record], all as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness, unless the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness.

Because of the general trustworthiness of regularly kept records and the need for such evidence in many cases, the business records exception has been construed generously in favor of admissibility. See, e.g., United States v. Ray, 930 F.2d 1368, 1370-71 (9th Cir.1990); In re Japanese Elec. Prods. Antitrust Litig.,

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