Crawford v. American National Petroleum Co.

805 So. 2d 371, 2000 La.App. 1 Cir. 1063, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 3139, 2001 WL 1659329
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 28, 2001
DocketNo. 2000 CA 1063
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 805 So. 2d 371 (Crawford v. American National Petroleum Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crawford v. American National Petroleum Co., 805 So. 2d 371, 2000 La.App. 1 Cir. 1063, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 3139, 2001 WL 1659329 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinions

1 ¡¿PARRO, Judge.

This case involves an appeal by the Louisiana Department of Revenue and Taxation from a district court judgment affirming a judgment of the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals in favor of the taxpayer based on a finding that no portion of a Texas punitive damage award was apportionable income for Louisiana corporate income tax and franchise tax purposes.

Factual Background and Procedural History

American National Petroleum Company (American) is an independent gas producer with its principal office located in Houston, Texas.1 American owned a working interest in two gas wells in the Vermilion field in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast and in five gas wells in the Oakvale field in Mississippi. As the only pipeline company servicing the Vermilion field, Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corporation (Transco)2 purchased the gas produced from this field from American pursuant to a take-or-pay gas contract. The contract obligated Transco to take or pay for specified annual and monthly percentages of American’s gas delivery capacity at certain prices.

American entered into operating agreements (gas balancing agreements) with working interest owners in the Vermilion field. Under the operating agreements, if a particular owner’s working interest was underproduced and another owner’s interest was overproduced, the underproduced owner could ask the designated field operator to bring it back into balance with the other working interest owners by reallocating an appropriate amount of the sales proceeds from gas taken by Transco. The designated field operator received a monthly notice of how much gas Transco [375]*375intended to buy, upon receipt of which it instructed Transco on how to allocate the payment to the various working interest owners in accordance with their fractional interests and with due regard for the un-derbalance/overbalance situation.

laWhen gas prices dropped in the 1980s, Transco tried to reduce the prices it was paying to American and other gas producers by buying more gas from those producers who did accept such a reduction and taking less from those who did not. The strong-arm tactics used by Transco to force American to accept the reduced prices were in direct conflict with their take-or-pay gas contract. American’s acceptance of reduced rates affected its ability to fulfill its obligations under its gas balancing contracts related to the same gas wells. As a result of Transco’s actions, American filed suit in Texas against Tran-sco for breach of their take-or-pay gas contract, breach of the duty of good faith, and tortious interference with the gas balancing contracts American had with certain Louisiana gas producers. American was successful in its suit against Transco. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation v. American National Petroleum Company, 763 S.W.2d 809 (Tex.App.-— Texarkana 1988), rev’d in part, 798 S.W.2d 274 (Tex.1990). The Texas jury determined that Transco had breached its take- or-pay gas contract with American and had interfered with the gas balancing agreements between American and their co-interest owners in the Vermilion field and the Oakvale field. Such interference was found to be without justification and with malice. Based on these findings, Transco was ordered to pay American the following damage awards: $1,582,258 in actual damages for breach of contract, $16,000,000 in exemplary/punitive damages for tortious interference with a contract, $1,000,000 in attorney fees, and $2,417,742 in interest. Of the damage award for breach of contract, 44.3092 percent was attributable to Louisiana with the remainder being attributable to Mississippi.

The Louisiana Department of Revenue and Taxation (Department) audited American’s Louisiana income tax returns for 1990, 1991, and 1992 and its franchise tax returns for 1991, 1992, and 1993. In light of the monetary awards received by American in its suit against Transco, the Department issued an income tax assessment to American seeking additional corporate income taxes for 1991 of $46,272.16, plus interest of $42,067.64. In a separate franchise tax assessment, the Department sought additional corporate franchise tax totaling $44,403 ($11,322 for 1991, $15,924 for IJL992, and $17,157 for 1993), plus interest of $39,501.61. American filed protests with the Department, which were denied. Subsequently, American appealed the Department’s action by filing a petition with the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals (Board) for a redetermination of the assessments. See LSA-R.S. 47:1431.

Although the parties agreed that the punitive damage award for tortious interference with a contract constituted appor-tionable income, they disagreed as to how such damage amount should be apportioned among Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The Department’s assessment was based on an apportionment of 44.3092 percent of the punitive damage award to Louisiana for purposes of imposing 1991 income taxes and 1992 franchise taxes.3 American argued that no part of the punitive damage award was attributable to [376]*376Louisiana and that 100 percent of such award was attributable to Texas.

In written reasons for judgment, the Board stated:

In the Texas case that gave rise to the punitive damages there were two contracts under consideration. One was a gas purchase contract between [Tran-sco] and [American] and the other was the gas balancing contract between [American] and the other fractional owners of the Vermilion field. The award of punitive damages was based on the tor-tious interference by [Transco] with the gas balancing contract.... The tortious interference is a tort. The actual damages was a breach of contract. The exemplary damages were paid as a result of the tort cause of action. [Tran-sco] coerced [American] into a favorable settlement with [Transco] pertaining to their contract by threats to [American’s] contract with third parties — the gas balancing contract.
In the decision of the Texas supreme court 798 S.W.2d 274 at page 279, it was stated: “The evidence construed favorably to support the jury verdict was that [Transco] threatened the gas operators (and through them the other interest owners) that if those third parties insisted on performance of their gas balancing agreement with [American], then [Tran-sco] would breach its own contracts with those third parties to their economic detriment.” It appears clear that the conduct that gave rise to the $16,000,000 exemplary damage award was rooted in Louisiana. It was the tortious interference by [Transco] in contracts between [American] as an owner of minerals, an immovable, located in Louisiana and other owners of minerals in Louisiana that gave rise to the punitive damages.
The fact that weighs in favor of the position of the [Department] is that the tortious interference of contract pertained to the gas balancing contracts that were between gas owners or lessees in the state of | BLouisiana.

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805 So. 2d 371, 2000 La.App. 1 Cir. 1063, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 3139, 2001 WL 1659329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-american-national-petroleum-co-lactapp-2001.