Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:4690 – Petroleum bulk sale of motor fuel, temperature adjusted volume required
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:4690
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Person: means both plural and singular, as the case demands, and includes individuals, partnerships, corporations, companies, societies, and associations
(14)(a) Except as provided in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph, "petroleum product" means any refined hydrocarbon mixture including motor oil, kerosene, gasoline, gasohol, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, heating kerosene, and any blend of two or more refined hydrocarbon mixtures except liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:4602
- petroleum product: shall include compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas as those terms are defined in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:4602
A. As used in this Section, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning hereinafter ascribed to them:
(1) “Gross gallons” are those gallons that have not been temperature adjusted.
(2) “Net gallons” are those gallons that have been temperature adjusted to sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
(3) “Petroleum product bulk sale” means a single sale of at least seven thousand gross gallons of a petroleum product made at a single place and time other than those sales made on a consignment basis.
(4) “Petroleum jobber” means any person, firm, corporation or association of persons:
(a) Who is a distributor or wholesaler of a petroleum product or who is the intermediate or middleman between the refiner and the retail dealer, the consumer, or another jobber; and
(b) Whose principal business is buying petroleum products for resale to retail dealers, consumers, or other jobbers.
(5) “Refiner” means any person engaged in the refining of crude oil to produce petroleum products and includes any affiliate of such person.
(6) “Retailer” is as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 51:421(A).
B.(1) Any refiner making a petroleum bulk sale of petroleum products to any retailer or petroleum jobber shall make the sale on a temperature adjusted volume basis of net gallons. The net gallons adjustment shall be made in accordance with “API/ASTM-IP Petroleum Measurement Table 6B” of the 1980 American Petroleum Institute’s Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards.
(2) The refiner shall provide the retailer or petroleum jobber with a receipt, invoice, or meter ticket specifying the petroleum product received and the following information:
(a) The gross gallons received.
(b) The temperature at the time of loading.
(c) The APA gravity.
(d) The net gallons purchased.
C. A retailer or petroleum jobber may bring a civil action against a refiner who violates a provision of Subsection B of this Section. The action may be brought, regardless of the amount in controversy, in the district court in any parish in which the refiner or the petroleum jobber or the retailer is doing business.
D. In an action under this Section, the court shall grant equitable relief, that may include a declaratory judgment, any permanent injunctive relief, or any temporary injunctive relief, that the court determines is necessary to remedy the effects of the refiner violation.
E. A retailer or petroleum jobber who prevails in an action brought under this Section shall be awarded the amount of actual damages and shall also be awarded court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees in relation to the amount of work performed by the attorney.
F. In addition to any other remedy or damages provided for in this Section, if the court determines that the refiner willfully and knowingly violated the provisions of Subsection B of this Section, the court may award three times the amount of actual damages to the prevailing retailer or petroleum jobber.
Acts 2003, No. 139, §1, eff. May 28, 2003.