Improvements needed in the Department of Energy's petroleum pricing and allocation compliance program

Technical Report · Wed Apr 18 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6567975

Between August 1973 and January 1981 (the date the President lifted price controls on refined petroleum products) the Department of Energy's Economic Regulatory Administration and predecessor federal agencies established and enforced regulations controlling the allocation and pricing of crude oil and refined petroleum products. Through its compliance program, ERA has audited oil companies' compliance with these regulations and has identified alleged violations totaling billions of dollars. GAO found that the overly optimistic workload objectives for ERA's compliance program resulted in understated budgets. GAO questioned whether ERA has adequate assurance that the major refiners' alleged violations are equitably resolved because ERA: has not maintained audit and compliance histories on each major oil refiner, and had not assured that the computer program it uses in settling alleged violations effectively meets its needs. GAO makes recommendations to increase audit coverage and to improve ERA's process for resolving alleged violations.

• Research Organization: General Accounting Office, Washington, DC (USA). Office of the Comptroller General
• OSTI ID: 6567975
• Report Number(s): GAO/RCED-84-51; ON: TI84901490
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
021000* -- Petroleum-- Legislation & Regulations
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
293000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
294002 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Petroleum
ALLOCATIONS
AUDITS
COMPLIANCE
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
PRICING REGULATIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS
REGULATIONS
US DOE
US GAO
US ORGANIZATIONS
VIOLATIONS