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cooperatives. Petitioner consistently took delivery of its
full share of the McPherson refinery’s output for resale to
its patrons.
During 1972 and 1973, the United States experienced an
energy crisis that caused major problems for petitioner and
its patrons. Petitioner was unable to operate its
refineries at full capacity due to the scarcity of crude
oil and increasing petroleum prices. Federal price
controls on refined products also created a cost-price
squeeze on petitioner’s operations. During this time,
petitioner was able to produce less than 20 percent of
the crude oil required by its refineries. As a result
of the shortages, petitioner ceased selling refined
petroleum products to nonmembers. Petitioner also
developed an allocation system designed to ensure adequate
distribution of fuel to its members. Despite these
problems, petitioner’s petroleum business in 1973 exceeded
its performance in the previous year.
Farmers experienced a general shortage of fertilizer
during the energy crisis of the early 1970's. This
impaired Government efforts to increase food production and
combat price increases. On October 21, 1973, the Arab oil
producing countries implemented an embargo of crude oil,
further intensifying the oil crisis. On January 15, 1974,
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