Vitol, Inc. v. United States: The Fifth Circuit Rejects the Energy Industry's Established Understanding of Butane

Case Note by Joel L. Vercher

This Note critically examines the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Vitol, Inc. v. United States, 30 F.4th 248 (5th Cir. 2022), where the Fifth Circuit held that butane does not qualify as a “liquefied petroleum gas” for purposes of an alternative fuel mixture tax credit, despite long-standing and established industry understanding of butane as an LPG.


About the Author

Joel L. Vercher, J.D. Candidate 2024, Tulane University Law School; B.S. 2021, Louisiana State University.

Citation

97 Tul. L. Rev. Online 43 (2023)