United States v. Exxon Corp.

Decision Date01 July 1985
Docket NumberNo. DC-91 to DC-100.,DC-91 to DC-100.
Citation773 F.2d 1240
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, and States of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, Intervenor-Appellees, v. EXXON CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant; National Oil Jobbers Council and the Jobbers' Group, Intervenor-Appellants; Gladieux Refinery, Inc., and U.S. Oil and Refining Company, Intervenor-Appellants; Indicated Refiners, Champlin Petroleum Company, Ashland Oil, Inc., Tenneco Oil Company, American Independent Refiners Association, Pennzoil Company, and Texas City Refining, Inc., Intervenor-Appellants; Gasoline Retailers, Luther Griffin, t/a Palmer Highway Exxon, Edward Mc-Govern, t/a Maple Avenue Exxon, Anthony Monaco, t/a Milltown Exxon Servicecenter, Inc., Donald E. Skilling, t/a Edon Service Corp., Tex Shipley, t/a Shipley's Standard Service, Intervenor-Appellants; Tosco Corporation, Intervenor-Appellant; Philadelphia Electric Company, Intervenor-Appellant; Air Transport Association of America, Intervenor-Appellant; Geraldine H. Sweeney, RJG Cab, Inc., National Freight, Inc., Intervenor-Appellants; Marathon Petroleum Company, Mobil Oil Corporation, and Murphy Oil Corporation, Intervenor-Appellants.
CourtU.S. Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

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David J. Beck, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, Tex., for defendant-appellant, Exxon Corp. With him on brief were Ronald D. Secrest, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, Tex., David R. Johnson, John M. Simpson, Robert A. Burgoyne, Fulbright & Jaworski, Washington, D.C., and W.J. Mc-Anelly, Jr., Houston, Tex.

Larry P. Ellsworth, Dept. of Energy, Office of Gen. Counsel, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee, U.S. With him on brief were Daniel F. Shea, Dept. of Justice, Civ. Div., Washington, D.C., Thomas C. Newkirk, Arthur S. Weissbrodt, David A. Engels, Marcia K. Sowles, Ellen P. Rosenberg-Blatt, Rodney L. Solenberger, Dept. of Energy, Office of Gen. Counsel, Washington, D.C., and George Kielman, Dean S. Cooper, Joseph L. Gibson, Gilbert T. Renaut, Dept. of Energy, Office of the Sol., Economic Regulatory Admin., Washington, D.C.

John P. Mathis, Baker & Botts, Washington, D.C., Atty., for Tenneco Oil Co. and Pennzoil Co., presented argument for intervenor-appellants, The Indicated Refiners. With him on Brief were Catherine C. Wakelyn, Baker & Botts, Attys., for Tenneco Oil Co. and Pennzoil Co., Joseph C. Bell and Mary Anne Sullivan, Hogan and Hartson, Washington, D.C., and B.J. Zimmerman and Kendor P. Jones, Fort Worth, Tex., Atty., for Champlin Petroleum Co. Thomas A. Donovan, Wendy D. Smith, Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Johnson and Hutchison, Pittsburgh, Pa., Attys., for Ashland Oil, Inc. Ralph J. Maynard and Alfred B. Smith, Jr., Houston, Tex., Attys., for Tenneco Oil Co. Van R. Boyette, Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliot, Washington, D.C., Attys., for American Independent Refiners Ass'n. Perry O. Barber and James W. Shaddix, Houston, Tex., Attys., for Pennzoil Co. Richard P. Noland, and Robert R. Morrow, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, Washington, D.C., Attys., for Texas City Refining, Inc.

Kenneth L. Bachman, Jr., Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Washington, D.C., presented argument for intervenor-appellant, Tosco Corp. With him on brief were Eugene M. Goott and John G. Finneran, Jr., also of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Washington, D.C., and Eric Schwartz, of counsel, Tosco Corp., Los Angeles, Cal.

Alphonse M. Alfano, Bassman & Mitchell, Washington, D.C., presented argument for intervenor-appellants, Nat. Oil Jobbers Council and the Jobbers' Group, and for intervenor-appellants Gasoline Retailers, Luther Griffin, et al. With him on brief for Nat. Oil Jobbers Council were Robert S. Bassman and Douglas B. Mitchell, also of Bassman & Mitchell, Washington, D.C., Attys., for Nat. Oil Jobbers Council, and, of counsel, Barbara J. Faulkner, Gen. Counsel, Nat. Oil Jobbers Council. With him on brief for Gasoline Retailers, Luther Griffin, et al., were, Jerry S. Cohen, Michael D. Hausfeld, and Patricia F. Bak, Kohn, Milstein, Cohen & Hausfeld, Washington, D.C., Attys., for appellant intervenors, Gasoline Retailers.

Harold E. Kohn, Kohn, Savett, Marion & Graf, Philadelphia, Pa., Attys., for Philadelphia Elec. Co., presented argument for intervenor-appellants Geraldine H. Sweeney, RJG Cab, Inc., Natl. Freight, Inc., and Philadelphia Elec. Co. With him on brief were Joseph C. Kohn, also of Kohn, Savett, Marion & Graf, Philadelphia, and Philip P. Kalodner and Lee Ann Glanton, Philadelphia, Pa., Attys., for Geraldine H. Sweeney, RJG Cab, Inc., and Natl. Freight, Inc.

David Frohnmayer, Atty. Gen. of Or., Salem, Or., presented argument for intervenor-appellee States. With him on brief were Don Arnold, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Or., Salem, Or., John K. Van de Kamp, Atty. Gen., and Yeoryios Apallas, Deputy Atty. Gen., for the State of Cal., San Francisco, Cal. Francis X. Bellotti, Atty. Gen., and Alan Kovacs, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State of Mass., Boston, Mass. Bernard Nash, and Edward G. Modell, Blum & Nash, Washington, D.C., Attys., for Pa., Hawaii, Nev., Guam and the Virgin Islands. James F. Flug and Paula Dinerstein, Lobel, Novins & Lamont, Washington, D.C., Attys. for Ala., Cal., Conn., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Md., Mich., Miss., Mont., Ohio, Vt., Wis. and Wyo. William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen. of La., New Orleans, La., and Andrew P. Miller and Stephen G. Wielgoz, Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin, Washington, D.C., Attys. for Ark., Del., Iowa, Kan., La., N.D., R.I., Tex. and W.Va.

William H. Bode, John E. Varnum, and William C. Lane, Spriggs, Bode & Hollingsworth, Washington, D.C., Attys., on brief, for intervenor-appellants Gladieux Refinery, Inc., and U.S. Oil and Refining Co.

Kathleen O. Argiropoulos, Air Transport Ass'n of America, Washington, D.C., and Kadison, Pfaelzer, Woodward, Quinn & Rossi, Richard T. Williams and Philip J. Mause, Los Angeles, Cal., Attys., on brief, for intervenor-appellant, Air Transport Ass'n of America; and R. Bruce McLean, Daniel Joseph, Warren E. Connelly, Edward L. Rubinoff, David A. Holzworth, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, Washington, D.C., Attys., on brief, for intervenor-appellants Marathon Petroleum Co., Mobil Oil Corp., and Murphy Oil Corp., of counsel, on this brief were J. Furman Lewis and John A. Evans, Marathon Petroleum Co., Findlay, Ohio. Charles S. Lindberg, William C. Streets, and Gail F. Schulz, Mobil Oil Corp., Fairfax, Va., and H.Y. Rowe and W. Bayless Rowe, Murphy Oil Corp., El Dorado, Ark.

James W. Collier, and Janet L. Leary, Dykema, Gossett, Spencer, Goodnow & Trigg, Detroit, Mich., and L.C. Ross, Denver, Colo., Attys., on brief, for amicus curiae, Total Petroleum, Inc.

Stark Ritchie and Stephen E. Williams, Washington, D.C., Attys., on brief, for amicus curiae, American Petroleum Institute.

Douglas L. Parker, Institute for Public Representation, and Charles E. Hill, Natl. Consumer Law Center, Washington, D.C., Attys., on brief, for amicus curiae, Low Income People Together, et al.

Charles D. Tetrault, Vinson & Elkins, Washington, D.C., G. Edward Ellison, John D. Taurman, and John C. Ale, Vinson & Elkins, Houston, Tex., Attys., for Conoco, Inc., and Derryl L. Collins and Xavier C. Lemond, Conoco, Inc., Houston, Tex., on brief, for amicus curiae Conoco, Inc.

J. Peter Segall, Washington, D.C., Atty., for The Navajo Nation, and of counsel: Claudeen Bates-Arthur, Atty. Gen., Lawrence A. Aschenbrenner, Deputy Atty. Gen., Navajo Nation Dept. of Justice, and Bassman & Mitchell, Chartered, Washington, D.C., on brief, for amicus curiae The Navajo Nation.

James Baller, Washington, D.C., Edward J. Ciechon, Jr., Radnor, Pa., C.L. Carpenter and Charles L. Spann, Sun Exploration and Production Co., Dallas, Tex., Attys., for Sun Co., Inc., and Sun Exploration and Production Co., and Paul J. Mode, Jr., Jay F. Lapin, Bruce D. Ryan, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington, D.C., and Robert E. Anderson, Asst. Gen. Counsel, American Petrofina, Inc., Dallas, Tex., Attys., for American Petrofina, Inc., on brief, for amici curiae, American Petrofina, Inc., Sun Co., Inc., and Sun Exploration and Production Co.

Stephen A. Bokat, Nat. Chamber Litigation Center Inc., Washington, D.C., on brief, for amicus curiae, The Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.

Neal A. Hawthorn, Longview, Tex., Atty., on brief, for amicus curiae, R. Lacy, Inc.

Before WILLIAM H. BECKER*, WESLEY E. BROWN, and MAXWELL, Judges.

WESLEY E. BROWN, Judge.

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

These appeals arise from an action filed in the District of Columbia by the United States against the defendant-appellant, Exxon Corporation, pursuant to the provisions of Sections 208(b), 209, of the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970, 12 U.S.C.A. Section 1904 note.1 (Hereafter, ESA)

The United States sought civil penalties and restitution from Exxon for overcharges which occurred in an unitized field known as the "Hawkins Field Unit," (HFU) located near Tyler, Texas. It was claimed that the overcharges resulted from miscalculations of "old" and "new" oil within HFU from January, 1975, until the end of price controls in January, 1981.

Upon cross motions for summary judgment, the District Court found that Exxon had violated the two-tier oil price regulations set out in 10 CFR Sections 212.73, 212.74 (1975). United States v. Exxon Corp., 561 F.Supp. 816 (D.D.C.1983).2

Although Exxon did not own all of the production in HFU, the Court found that it, as Operator, had caused, and was responsible for, the...

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