Van Vranken v. Atlantic Richfield Co.

890 F.2d 421, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 15598, 1989 WL 118556
CourtTemporary Emergency Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 10, 1989
DocketNo. 9-101
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 890 F.2d 421 (Van Vranken v. Atlantic Richfield Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Van Vranken v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 890 F.2d 421, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 15598, 1989 WL 118556 (tecoa 1989).

Opinion

THORNBERRY, Judge:

Defendant/appellant Atlantic Richfield Company (“ARCO”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Don Van Vranken, et al. (plaintiffs/appellees), prohibiting ARCO from retroactively reallocating crude oil costs. 699 F.Supp. 1420 (N.D.Cal.1988).

FACTS

In 1973, pursuant to the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970, 12 U.S.C. section 1904, et seq. (“the ESA”), the Cost of Living Council (“the CLC”) promulgated mandatory price control regulations for all petroleum and petroleum products. These regulations permitted companies to pass along increases in crude oil costs in the price of their petroleum products. The method for calculating the maximum permissible price depended on the nature of the goods. This appeal concerns the calculation of maximum prices for “covered goods” as that term is defined in the regulations.

The CLC established a formula for determining the amount of a refiner’s increased crude oil costs that could be attributed to recover goods. This calculation, known as the “V factor,” entailed taking the total volume of a given covered good sold and dividing it by the total volume of all covered goods sold. The resulting fraction was used to determine the amount of the increased crude oil costs that could be attrib[422]*422uted to the covered product. Refiners had the choice of either increasing the price of the covered goods or banking the increased costs to be used to offset overcharges.

Before the ESA was scheduled to expire on April 30, 1974, Congress passed the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, 15 U.S.C. section 751 et seq. (“the EPAA”), to succeed the ESA. Congress, however, exempted certain petroleum products from the price controls under the EPAA. Pursuant to the statute exempting these products, the Department of Energy (“the DOE”) issued regulations reflecting the exemption of these products from the price controls. The exclusion of these products from the price controls had a significant impact on the calculation of the permissible price increases for covered goods. Under the new regulations, the increased cost of crude oil used to produce the newly exempt goods was included in the total increased cost of producing covered goods; however, the volume of the newly exempt goods that were sold was not included in the denominator of the V factor. Increased crude oil costs to produce newly exempt goods could therefore be passed on in the price of non-exempt, covered goods. Effectively, under the new regulations, companies could pass on the increased crude oil costs to produce newly exempt goods in the price of the newly exempt goods themselves and the price of the covered goods.

By emergency regulatory amendment, without providing an opportunity for notice or comment, on April 30, 1974, the DOE redefined the V Factor to add the volume of newly exempt goods to the denominator of the V factor. This amendment resolved the problem created by the post-EPAA regulations and prevented refiners from apportioning increased crude oil costs attributable to exempt goods to the price of their covered products. The result was that only the increased crude oil costs attributable to covered goods could be passed on in the price of covered goods.

ARCO consistently abided by the April 1974 amendment, including allocating increased crude oil in direct volumetric proportion to the covered goods sold. Two companies — Mobil and Getty — did not abide by the V factor provisions in the amendment. Getty applied for and was granted administrative relief. Mobil challenged the validity of the amendment before a panel of this court. In Mobil Oil Corp. v. DOE, 610 F.2d 796 (TECA 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 937, 100 S.Ct. 2156, 64 L.Ed.2d 790 (1980) (Mobil I), a TECA panel found that the 1974 amendment was invalid because DOE failed to provide a period of notice and comment. Later, in Mobil Oil Corp. v. DOE, 647 F.2d 142 (TECA 1981) (Mobil II), this court permitted Mobil to reallocate crude oil costs incurred producing exempt goods to the cost of producing covered goods. Following the decisions in Mobil I and Mobil II, many refiners, including ARCO, sought to retroactively reallocate millions of dollars of increased crude oil costs used to produce exempt products that, absent the 1974 amendment, could have been attributed to covered products.1

In March 1979, the plaintiffs filed suit against ARCO, alleging that ARCO had improperly recalculated its May 1973 costs for crude oil. In determining whether ARCO had in fact overcharged the plaintiffs, the district court had to review ARCO’s calculation of its banks of unrecov-ered costs to determine whether ARCO’s banks were sufficient to offset any overcharges. The effect of the invalidation of the April 1974 amendment was critical to determining the amount of ARCO’s banked unrecovered costs. ARCO, in a motion for summary judgment, urged that pursuant to the Mobil decisions it could retroactively reallocate its costs for producing exempt goods to covered goods and thereby increase its banks. The plaintiffs in their motion for summary judgment, argued that ARCO could not retroactively reallocate [423]*423these costs. The district court granted the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment.

On Appeal, ARCO urges that (1) in light of the invalidation of the 1974 amendment, it must retroactively reallocate its costs from exempt to covered goods; and (2) it may reallocate its costs from exempt to covered goods. Several lower courts have addressed these issues and have rejected the arguments ARCO presently advances. See Naph-Sol Refining Co. v. Murphy Oil Corp., 550 F.Supp. 297 (W.D.Mich.1982), mod'd on other grounds, sub nom. Mobil Oil Corp. v. DOE, 728 F.2d 1477 (1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1255, 104 S.Ct. 3545, 82 L.Ed.2d 849 (1984); Kickapoo Oil Co., Inc. v. Murphy Oil Corp., No. 78-C-478-C (W.D.Wis. December 28, 1983); Martin Oil Service, Inc. v. Koch Refining Co., 718 F.Supp. 1334 (N.D.Ill.1989); U.S. Oil Comp., Inc. v. Koch Refining Company, No. 79-C-659 (E.D.Wis. March 13, 1989).

ARCO ’S CLAIM THAT IT MUST RETROACTIVELY REALLOCATE ITS COSTS

ARCO urges that because Mobil I invalidated the 1974 amendment the only legal method for allocating increased crude oil costs is to allocate the increased crude oil costs for producing exempt goods to covered goods. For the following reasons, we reject this argument. First, neither Mobil I nor Mobil II required Mobil to retroactively reallocate costs. Rather, the Mobil I panel “permitted ... Mobil to allocate exempt product costs to covered products.” Mobil I, 610 F.2d at 805; see also Mobil II, 647 F.2d at 146-47 (holding that “the judgment is correct insofar as it permits Mobil to allocate exempt product costs to covered products ... ”).

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Bluebook (online)
890 F.2d 421, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 15598, 1989 WL 118556, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-vranken-v-atlantic-richfield-co-tecoa-1989.