NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the First District Court of Appeal, Case No. 1D10-0254, has directed the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to respond to the petition for declaratory statement filed by Exxon Mobil Corporation [ExxonMobil Oil Corporation has been substituted as the Petitioner] dated October 9, 2009, Agency Clerk No. A65281, by answering the following questions: (1) whether Florida’s Price Gouging Law applies to commercial wholesale gasoline transactions such as those engaged in by ExxonMobil, and (2) whether ExxonMobil’s use of the Gulf Coast Regional Platts Index protects it from an enforcement action under the Price Gouging Law. The Court’s Mandate was filed January 13, 2011. ExxonMobil’s Petition seeks the agency’s opinion as to the applicability of provisions of Chapter 501, F.S., specifically Section 501.160 (“Price Gouging Law”), Section 501.164, The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (“Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act”), Sections 501.201 through 501.213, F.S., to the circumstances confronting Exxon Mobil Corporation during a declared state of emergency.

A copy of the Petition for Declaratory Statement and the First District Court of Appeal’s disposition may be obtained by contacting: William N. Graham, Senior Attorney. Office of General Counsel, Mayo Building, Room 526, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0800.