[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 98 (Monday, May 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25212-25215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12593]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Energy Information Administration
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
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SUMMARY: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting
comments concerning the proposed new Form EIA-901, ``Monthly Report of
Natural Gas Marketers''; extension without changes to the Standby Form
EIA-191S, ``Weekly Underground Gas Storage Report'', and Standby Form
EIA-857S, ``Weekly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to
Consumers''; extension with changes to Forms EIA-176, ``Annual Report
of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and Disposition'', EIA-191,
``Monthly Underground Gas Storage Report'', EIA-857, ``Monthly Report
of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to Consumers'', and EIA-895,
``Monthly Quantity and Value of Natural Gas Report''; and
discontinuation of the Form EIA-627, ``Annual Quantity and Value of
Natural Gas Report''.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 19, 1996.
If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find it
difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice,
you should advise the contact listed below of your intention to do so
as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Margaret Natof, Reserves and Natural Gas
Division, EI-441, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information
Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue
SW., Washington, DC 20585, 202-586-6303, or E-mail to
[email protected], or FAX at 202-586-1076.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Requests for additional information or copies
of the forms and instructions should be directed to Margaret Natof at
the address listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments--General Issues and Specific Issues
I. Background
In order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Energy
Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-275) and the Department of
Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 95-91), the Energy Information
Administration is obliged to carry out a central, comprehensive, and
unified energy data and information program. As part of this program,
EIA collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates data and
information related to energy resource reserves, production, demand,
and technology, and related economic and statistical information
relevant to the adequacy of energy resources to meet demands in the
near and longer term future for the Nation's economic and social needs.
The Energy Information Administration, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden (required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13)), conducts a presurvey
consultation program to provide the general public and other Federal
agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
reporting forms. This program helps to ensure that requested data can
be provided in the desired format, reporting burden is minimized,
reporting forms are clearly understood, and the impact of collection
requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
Following is background information on each form in the clearance
package:
Form EIA-176, ``Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply
and Disposition''
The Form EIA-176 provides the EIA with the major elements of
information required to combine and merge with data collected in other
EIA surveys to develop natural gas supply and disposition balances and
relevant gas
[[Page 25213]]
cost, price, and related information at the State level.
The information collected on the Form EIA-176 is needed and used by
the DOE for the following purposes:
(1) to develop and make available to the Congress, the States, and
the public an accurate assessment of the supply of natural and
supplemental gas available to each of the States from all sources, both
internal and external, and the manner in which such supply was utilized
or otherwise disposed of;
(2) to determine the quantity of natural gas and supplemental
gaseous fuels consumed within each of the States by market sector, the
average price for such gas, and the changes in consumption and price
patterns over time;
(3) to provide natural gas data to EIA publications including the
Annual Energy Review, Annual Energy Outlook, and other EIA publications
which are distributed to the Congress, government, industry, and the
public; and
(4) to provide natural gas data for the Natural Gas Annual.
EIA-191, ``Monthly Underground Gas Storage Report''
Form EIA-191 requests monthly data on the location, ownership,
capacity, and operations of all active underground natural gas storage
fields. Storage data are a critical link in understanding the
deliverability of the natural gas system and overall system operations.
Information collected on the Form EIA-191 is used by the EIA in the
following ways:
(1) to provide State level data on underground natural gas storage
with respect to injections, withdrawals, inventories, type of storage
facility, location, and capacity for the EIA's Natural Gas Monthly.
This monthly data collection also provides reliable baseline data on
storage operations necessary for analyses, modeling, and comparison
with normal industry operations in case of severe weather, natural
disasters, or other extreme circumstances;
(2) to provide data on underground natural gas operations for EIA's
Monthly Energy Review, Annual Energy Review, Annual Energy Outlook, and
Short Term Energy Outlook;
(3) to provide data on underground natural gas storage inventories
monthly for various analyses and publications; and
(4) to provide data on all aspects of underground natural gas
storage to enable EIA and other elements of DOE to identify and assess
supplies of natural gas in storage by geographic location on a timely
basis.
EIA-857, ``Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to
Consumers''
Monthly State level data collected on Form EIA-857 are aggregated
by EIA and used to develop information on the average cost of gas
purchased by natural gas distribution companies at their citygates,
consumption of natural gas by sector, and average price of gas by
sector. These data are necessary to provide timely information needed
to measure the combined impact of government, industry, and consumer
actions; geographic location; interfuel competition; climatic
conditions; and other factors upon the natural gas industry and natural
gas consumers.
Aggregate monthly data are published in EIA's Natural Gas Monthly
and Monthly Energy Review, and are made available to the Congress,
State governments, industry, and the public.
EIA-895, ``Monthly Quantity of Natural Gas Report''
Form EIA-895 collects monthly data from the appropriate State
agencies concerning natural gas production. It provides details on
gross withdrawals from gas and oil wells, on volumes vented and flared,
volumes used for repressuring, volumes of nonhydrocarbon gases removed,
volumes used as fuel on leases, and the amount of natural gas available
for market. These data are routinely collected by the States for
taxation and statistical purposes.
The aggregate data are published in the Natural Gas Monthly,
Natural Gas Annual, Monthly Energy Review, and Annual Energy Review.
Form EIA-901, ``Monthly Survey of Natural Gas Marketers''
The proposed Form EIA-901 will provide EIA with information which
will be used to estimate the average price of natural gas delivered to
end users by State, month, and consuming sector.
The information collected on the EIA-901 will be compiled, combined
with data from the Form EIA-857, and used by EIA to estimate monthly
volume-weighted average prices of natural gas delivered to end users by
sector in each of the States and the total for the United States. Data
summaries will be published in the Natural Gas Monthly and Monthly
Energy Review and will be made available to DOE, Congress, State
governments, industry, and the public. The data collected from this
survey will also be used by the DOE as baseline information for State
and regional studies and forecasts of natural gas prices. (EIA is
currently conducting a pretest of the EIA-901.)
Standby Forms EIA-857S, ``Weekly Report of Natural Gas Supplies and
Deliveries to Consumers,'' and EIA-191S, ``Weekly Underground Gas
Storage Report''
The standby Forms EIA-857S and EIA-191S are designed to fill gaps
in the natural gas data collections where monthly data do not provide
sufficient information for responses to natural disasters, severe
weather, or other catastrophic events. The data would permit EIA to
monitor the impact of regional disruptions on a weekly basis when the
EIA Administrator determines that conditions or events warrant more
frequent data collection.
Data elements on the forms are identical to those on the ``parent''
forms EIA-857 and EIA-191 except the weekly forms are simplified to the
maximum extent possible. The standby forms are intended only for use as
determined necessary in extreme situations. EIA would notify OMB of the
intent to use the form(s), the region(s) affected, and the estimated
burden.
II. Current Actions
This notice includes a new data collection, the EIA-901; an
extension of current data collections without change, the EIA-191S, and
EIA-857S; and extension of current data collections with changes, the
EIA-176, EIA-191,
EIA-857, and EIA-895. EIA proposes to discontinue the Form EIA-627.
Later this year, a request will be made of the Office of Management and
Budget to approve the proposed forms as the Natural Gas Program Package
with an expiration date of December 31, 1999.
EIA-901, ``Monthly Report of Natural Gas Marketers''
EIA's current data collection system is based on the concept of
``bundled'' natural gas sales and transportation arrangements. Prior to
FERC Order 636, data on bundled natural gas deliveries were readily
available from those companies that delivered to end use customers
(principally local distribution companies and pipelines). Since the
companies making the deliveries had both custody and ownership of the
gas, EIA could also collect price data from those companies making
deliveries.
With the current system of unbundled sales and transportation, EIA
still obtains complete reporting of volumes delivered to end users.
Since third parties can now arrange for the sale of natural gas, EIA
has lost coverage of the
[[Page 25214]]
prices paid by many consumers, particularly in the industrial sector.
In meetings with EIA data providers and data users, the importance
of the consumer price data were given high priority. Those prices are
important indicators of the overall structure and functioning of the
natural gas marketplace. The data are needed and used by the business
community for planning purposes and as benchmark and baseline data.
EIA is proposing to collect data from natural gas marketers who are
the new participants in the industry since the implementation of Order
636. The data collection would ask marketers to provide monthly reports
of volumes, revenues, and distribution costs for natural gas delivered
to customers f.o.b. (free on board) the end users' burnertip or f.o.b.
the citygate. (EIA is currently pretesting the EIA-901.)
The data would be combined with data collected from both the
revised Form EIA-176 and the revised Form EIA-857 to construct end-use
prices for each consuming sector.
EIA-176, ``Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and
Disposition''
EIA is proposing to change the EIA-176 to collect the revenues on
deliveries of natural gas transported for the account of others in Part
V, lines 7.1 through 7.4.6.2 of the form. This information will
supplement data proposed to be collected on the Form EIA-901, ``Monthly
Report of Natural Gas Marketers.'' The proposed changes are expected to
place a small increased burden on respondents.
EIA-191, ``Monthly Underground Gas Storage Report''
EIA is not proposing any format changes to the Form. However, EIA
has received requests for release of the Form EIA-191 data. Therefore,
EIA is asking respondents to reconsider and to demonstrate the extent
to which their information constitutes trade secrets or commercial and
financial information whose release would cause substantial harm to
their company's competitive position.
EIA-627, ``Annual Quantity and Value of Natural Gas Report''
EIA is proposing the discontinuation of this voluntary form. A
proposed change to the EIA-895 would request monthly data on value of
natural gas at the wellhead and eliminate the need for a separate
annual data collection on the EIA-627.
EIA-857, ``Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to
Consumers''
EIA proposes only one change to the EIA-857, to collect revenue
data on lines 13 through 18 of the form. The purpose of gathering
transportation revenue data is to supplement data gathered on the
proposed Form EIA-901 in the development of end-user price data. A
small change in burden to respondents is anticipated.
EIA-895, ``Monthly Quantity and Value of Natural Gas Report''
Proposed changes to the EIA-895 include adding a column to the form
to collect data on the value of each volume item on the form. The title
of the Form would be changed to ``Monthly Quantity and Value of Natural
Gas Report.'' This voluntary report is filed by State agencies of each
of the natural gas producing States. The reporting burden for the EIA-
895 would be expected to increase from 30 minutes to 45 minutes per
response.
Standby Forms EIA-191S, ``Weekly Underground Gas Storage Report,'' and
EIA-857S, ``Weekly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to
Consumers''
No changes are requested to these standby forms. EIA has not
previously invoked the use of the forms in emergency situations, but
would like to retain the ability to do so should circumstances warrant.
III. Request for Comments
Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment
on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are
provided to assist in the preparation of responses. Since this notice
covers more than one form, please indicate to which form(s) your
comments apply.
General Issues
EIA is interested in receiving comments from persons regarding:
A. Whether the proposed collections of information are necessary
for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility. Practical utility
is the actual usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking
into account its accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the
agency's ability to process the information it collects.
B. What enhancements can EIA make to the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected?
As a Potential Respondent
A. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If
not, which instructions require clarification?
B. Can data be submitted in accordance with the due date specified
in the instructions?
C. Public reporting burden for the proposed forms is estimated to
average 4 hours per month for the EIA-901, 20.9 hours annually for the
EIA-176, 3.6 hours per month for the EIA-191, 4 hours per month for the
EIA-857, and 50 minutes per month for the EIA-895 per response. The
burden estimate for the EIA-191S is 4 hours per response and the EIA-
857S is 4 hours per response on a weekly basis. Burden includes the
total time, effort, or financial resources expended to generate,
maintain, retain, or disclose or provide the information including: (1)
reviewing instructions; (2) developing, acquiring, installing, and
utilizing technology and systems for the purposes of collecting,
validating, verifying, processing, maintaining, disclosing and
providing information; (3) adjusting the existing ways to comply with
any previously applicable instructions and requirements; (4) training
personnel to respond to a collection of information; (5) searching data
sources; (6) completing and reviewing the collection of information;
and (7) transmitting, or otherwise disclosing the information.
Please comment on (1) the accuracy of our estimate and (2) how the
agency could minimize the burden of the collection of information,
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
D. What are the estimated (1) total dollar amount annualized for
capital and start-up costs, and (2) recurring annual dollar amount of
operation and maintenance and purchase of services costs associated
with these data collections? The estimates should take into account the
costs associated with generating, maintaining, and disclosing or
providing the information. Estimates should not include purchases of
equipment or services made as part of customary and usual business
practices, or the cost of any burden hours for completing the forms.
EIA estimates that there are no additional costs other than those that
the respondent incurs in keeping the information for its own uses.
E. Do you know of any other Federal, State, or local agency that
collects similar data? If you do, specify the agency, the data
element(s), and the methods of collection.
[[Page 25215]]
As a Potential User
A. Can you use data at the levels of detail indicated on the forms?
B. For what purposes would you use the data? Be specific.
C. Are there alternate sources of data and do you use them? If so,
what are their deficiencies and/or strengths?
D. For the most part, information is published by EIA in U.S.
customary units, e.g., cubic feet of natural gas. Would you prefer to
see EIA publish more information in metric units, e.g., cubic meters?
If yes, please specify what information (e.g., natural gas
consumption), the metric unit(s) of measurement preferred, and in which
EIA publication(s) you would like to see such information.
Specific Issues
EIA is seeking comments on the following specific issues related to
the forms covered by this Notice:
Confidentiality of Data on the EIA-191
EIA has received numerous requests for company-level information
filed on the EIA-191. Since these data were collected under a pledge of
confidentiality, those requests have been denied. However, in light of
the fact that many respondents routinely provide their data to the
trade press and others, this issue is being reexamined.
A. Should EIA continue to preserve the confidentiality of EIA-191
data?
B. What would be the impact on your company of the release of its
filings of the EIA-191?
C. What would be the impact on your company if the EIA were to
aggregate your filings from the field level to the company level and
release only the company-level aggregate data?
D. How are field-level or company-level natural gas storage data
useful to you?
Tax Revenue Information Reported on the EIA-176 and EIA-857
Currently taxes are included in the revenues collected on the EIA-
176 and EIA-857. Can your company provide separate data, either as a
rate or in dollars, on the taxes collected from its deliveries of
natural gas to consumers?
Firm and Interruptible Deliveries (EIA-176)
EIA has been collecting information on EIA-176 on deliveries of
natural gas to end users divided into the categories ``firm'' and
``interruptible''. Because natural gas purchases and contracting
practices have changed significantly since the advent of Order 636, we
are requesting your comments on the desirability of continuing to
collect these data at this level of detail.
A. For Responding Companies: Is your company able to provide
reliable data in response to these data items?
B. For Data Users: Are the data on firm and interruptible
deliveries of natural gas to end users useful to you?
Deliveries of Natural Gas to Nonutility Power Producers (Forms EIA-176
and EIA-857)
A. For Data Providers: Is your company able to provide reliable
data on deliveries to nonutility power producers?
B. For Data Providers and Users: Are the data on deliveries of
natural gas to nonutility power producers useful?
Gas Used for Agriculture (Forms EIA-176 and EIA-857)
Natural gas consumed in agriculture operations has always been
classified as part of the commercial sector. For all other fuels on
which EIA collects data, agriculture use is considered part of the
industrial sector.
A. For Respondent Companies: Is your company able to separate
natural gas deliveries to agricultural users and report them as part of
the industrial sector?
B. For Data Users: Transferring agricultural use to the industrial
sector would allow more meaningful comparisons with other fuels. It
would also mean a break in series because EIA has no precise measure of
agricultural use with which to adjust previously published data. Should
EIA request this change of sector definition?
Electronic or Other Filing Options
EIA is continually seeking ways to improve the convenience of
reporting for respondents. Electronic methods of filing EIA forms
provide respondents with options that many find easier and less time-
consuming than the traditional paper forms. Also, because some editing
is performed as data are entered, filing electronically often produces
higher quality reports and respondents are subject to fewer follow-up
contacts from EIA staff to resolve questions. Electronic filing is
preferred by EIA but is not mandatory. Currently the EIA-176 offers an
electronic filing option provided on a personal computer diskette
programmed with software that can be used on most IBM compatible
computers. The EIA-191 offers an electronic filing option which allows
users to transmit data directly to the EIA mainframe computer.
A. Does your company have any questions or concerns about the
electronic filing options offered by EIA?
B. What other electronic filing options could be offered that your
company would like to use?
Revenue Data on the EIA-176 and EIA-857
A. Can respondent companies provide the revenue data for gas
transported for the account of others requested on the EIA-176 and the
EIA-857?
B. What revenues are included in the data that respondents are
asked to provide in response to these new data items?
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also
will become a matter of public record.
Statutory Authority: Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13).
Issued in Washington, D.C., May 13, 1996.
Yvonne M. Bishop,
Director, Office of Statistical Standards, Energy Information
Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-12593 Filed 5-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P