Murphy Oil Corporation v. Federal Power Commission

431 F.2d 805, 1970 U.S. App. LEXIS 7240
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 23, 1970
Docket19597_1
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 431 F.2d 805 (Murphy Oil Corporation v. Federal Power Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy Oil Corporation v. Federal Power Commission, 431 F.2d 805, 1970 U.S. App. LEXIS 7240 (8th Cir. 1970).

Opinion

MEHAFFY, Circuit Judge.

Murphy Oil Corporation and Mississippi River Transmission Corporation are joint owners of oil and gas leases on gas producing acreage in the Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier Parish, Louisiana. 1 ***By a contract dated October 15, 1951, Murphy and Mississippi entered into a gas purchase agreement whereby Murphy agreed to sell its gas produced from said field to Mississippi. The Supreme Court in Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Wisconsin, 347 U.S. 672, 74 S.Ct. 794, 98 L.Ed. 1035 (1954), determined that gas producers were subject to regulation by the Federal Power Commission under the provisions of the Natural Gas Act, 52 Stat. 821, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 717 et seq., and, in compliance therewith, Murphy filed the aforementioned contract as a rate schedule.

The contract provided for a base price with periodic increases, plus reimbursement for any existing taxes, and also provided for reimbursement to the extent of two-thirds of any additional taxes. 2 Thereafter, supplements were peri *807 odically filed effectuating the agreed-upon rate increases. The contract in effect at the time this controversy arose made no mention of any refund, but after a period of time there was a tax refund obtained by Mississippi for Murphy’s account, and the disposition of this refund under a summary letter order issued by the Federal Power Commission is the basis of this controversy and concerns the authority of the Commission to control and determine the disposition of the refunded taxes. The order of the Commission stemmed from a proceeding under Section 4 of the Act whereby Murphy had filed for a rate decrease in accordance with an agreement which it had reached with Mississippi.

The issues are whether the Federal Power Commission has jurisdiction over these funds so as to require Murphy to hold them pending its further order as to disposition, and, if so, whether the Commission erred in holding that there was no justification for Murphy to retain any of the amounts without granting it a hearing on the matter.

Murphy timely filed its petition for review of the Commission’s order in this court. Jurisdiction is established under the provisions of 15 U.S.C. § 717r(b).

We hold that under certain circumstances the Commission has authority with respect to the disposition of refunds without hearing, but due to the complexity of this case the problem cannot be resolved upon a skeleton record of documentary evidence, in a summary fashion, without an evidentiary hearing. We therefore set aside the Commission’s order for the purpose of requiring a plenary hearing for all interested parties to be given the opportunity to offer evidence in order that a determination can be properly made for disposition of the funds involved.

Prior to August 1, 1958, the approved rate for the sale of gas under the Murphy-Mississippi contract was a 100 base rate per Mcf plus a 2.50 payment, which apparently included a 10 gas gathering tax then imposed by the State of Louisiana, making an actual rate of 12.50 per Mcf. Effective August 1, 1958 Louisiana, by statute, increased the gas gathering tax from 10 to 20 per Mcf. Murphy then filed a rate change with the Commission for reimbursement for .6670 of the additional tax, or a total rate of 13.-1670. By order issued July 30, 1958 the Commission suspended the proposed .6670 increase and ordered a hearing but permitted Murphy to collect the increase commencing August 2, 1958, subject to refund “in the event the additional (gas gathering) tax of one cent per Mcf. levied by the State of Louisiana is, for any reason, held to be invalid.” Effective December 1, 1958, in accordance with the contract, the base price was escalated .50 per Mcf, and accordingly Murphy filed for this increase, making the total rate of 13.6670 per Mcf. The Commission again permitted the filing, but suspended *808 or deferred the use of the new rate until December 2, 1958, pending a hearing and decision thereon.

Effective December 1, 1958 the General Assembly of Louisiana suspended the gas gathering tax and substituted in lieu thereof a 20 per Mcf increase in the existing severance tax. Murphy then filed a rate change with the Commission for reimbursement of two-thirds of the 20 additional severance tax (1.330), and the Commission permitted this proposed increase to become effective with no mention of suspension or refund.

On May 19, 1959 Murphy and Mississippi executed a letter agreement which they filed with the Commission as a modification of the rate schedule which provided that, “so long as the increased severance taxes are payable on gas delivered under the contract,” Mississippi would reimburse Murphy for 1.6670 of such 20 tax, provided that 10 would be considered part of the 2.50 allowance for gathering, dehydration, compression and “existing taxes,” and the remaining .6670 per Mcf would be considered reimbursement for .two-thirds of the “additional tax” of 10 as provided for in the contract. The Commission accepted this filing effective as of December 3, 1958 without any provision for suspension or refund, and the Commission expressly terminated the refund obligation heretofore imposed on Murphy’s prior filing relating to the gas gathering tax. The order provided that “Murphy’s refund obligations contained in its undertaking filed herein are hereby terminated.”

On September 18, 1961 Murphy filed a rate increase for another .50 escalation in the base price to become effective on December 1, 1961 under the terms of the contract raising the total rate from 13.-6670 to 14.1670 per Mcf. The Commission accepted this filing and allowed the rate to become effective on December 1, 1961 without a provision for suspension or refund. In its acceptance letter, however, the Commission stated:

“This acceptance for filing does not constitute authorization under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act; nor shall it be construed as constituting approval of any rate or provisions contained in the rate filing; nor shall such acceptance be deemed as recognition of any claimed contractual right or obligation associated therewith; and such acceptance is without prejudice to any findings or orders which have been or may hereafter be made by the Commission in any proceeding now pending or hereafter instituted by or against your company.”

On September 1, 1963 Mississippi commenced paying the severance tax under protest, and on November 22, 1963 filed suit against the Collector of Revenue for the State of Louisiana alleging that the tax was void as applied to gas extracted from a federal enclave such as Barksdale Air Force Base. In Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Cocreham, 247 F.Supp. 819 (E.D.La.1965), the district court held that Louisiana could impose such a tax under the authority of Mississippi River Fuel Corp. v. Fontenot, 234 F.2d 898 (5th Cir. 1956),"but on appeal the Fifth Circuit overruled its decision in Fontenot

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Bluebook (online)
431 F.2d 805, 1970 U.S. App. LEXIS 7240, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphy-oil-corporation-v-federal-power-commission-ca8-1970.