[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 192 (Monday, October 5, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53401-53403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26593]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Modification; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Proposed 
modification; Comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting 
comments concerning the proposed modification of the criteria used to 
select those companies that must file Form EIA-28, the ``Financial 
Reporting System.''

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before December 4, 
1998. 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 Gregory P. Filas, Energy Information 
Administration, EI-62, Financial Analysis Team, Forrestal Building, 
U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585, telephone (202) 586-
1347; e-mail [email protected]; FAX (202) 586-9753.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the form and instructions should be directed to Mr. Filas at 
the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    In order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275) and the Department of 
Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91), the Energy Information 
Administration (EIA) 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 EIA, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden (required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(Pub. L. 104-13, title 44, U.S.C. Chapter 35), 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 EIA to prepare data

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requests in the desired format, minimize reporting burden, develop 
clearly understandable reporting forms, and assess the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents. Also, EIA will later seek 
approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the 
collections under Section 3507(h) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.

II. Current Actions

    Under Pub. L. 95-91, section 205(h), the Administrator of the EIA 
is required to ``identify and designate'' the major energy companies 
who must annually file Form EIA-28 (the ``Financial Reporting System'' 
(FRS)) in order to ensure that the data collected provide ``a 
statistically accurate profile of each line of commerce in the energy 
industry in the United States.'' Traditionally, the Administrator has 
chosen to use a set of criteria to assist him in identifying the 
reporting companies.
    The EIA is proposing to modify the criteria currently used to 
determine which companies must file Form EIA-28, and is seeking 
comments on this proposal. This is not a proposal to change or modify 
the currently approved form.
    The first criterion which must currently be met for a company to 
qualify as a FRS respondent is that the company be among the top 50 
U.S.-based companies ranked by worldwide production of crude oil (the 
``Top-50 Requirement''). The second FRS selection criterion requires 
that the company account for 1 percent or more of U.S. production or 
reserves of oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, or 1 percent or more of 
U.S. refining capacity or refined product sales volume.
    The current set of FRS respondent company selection criteria 
ensures that oil and gas producing companies who have grown to account 
for more than 1 percent of U.S. production or reserves, and vertically-
integrated refiners who have acquired more than 1 percent of U.S. 
refining capacity are added to the survey group. The Top-50 Requirement 
ensures that only integrated refiners (and not non-integrated 
independent refiners) are added to the survey group.
    Because vertically integrated refiners have traditionally owned the 
majority of U.S. refining assets, the Top-50 Requirement did not, until 
recently, significantly limit FRS coverage of the U.S. refining 
industry. At year-end 1986, the FRS companies accounted for 76 percent 
of U.S. refining capacity. At year-end 1996, the FRS companies 
(including their unconsolidated joint ventures) accounted for 73 
percent of U.S. refining capacity.
    However, the U.S. refining industry has been undergoing a process 
of restructuring, cost-cutting and consolidation over the past several 
years, and the trend in industry acquisitions, divestitures, and 
alliances has sharply accelerated. In recent months, the EIA has been 
seeing a significant drop in FRS survey coverage for the U.S. refining 
industry, as well as evidence of newly emerging patterns of U.S. 
refining industry organization. A number of FRS companies have sold 
their U.S. refining assets, including assets previously committed to 
joint ventures.
    These rapid industry changes have, and will continue, to 
substantially reduce the ability of EIA's FRS to meet its legislative 
requirement to provide ``* * * a statistically accurate profile * * *'' 
of the U.S. refining line of commerce for the 1998 reporting year and 
beyond, unless the respondent company selection criteria for Form EIA-
28 are modified.
    Accordingly, the EIA is proposing to eliminate the Form EIA-28 Top-
50 Requirement. Additionally, the EIA is proposing to eliminate the 
thresholds on coal and uranium production. EIA also proposes to clarify 
that the U.S.-based companies selected for the survey group, or their 
parent companies, must be publicly-traded companies. With these 
changes, the simplified FRS respondent selection criteria will allow 
for the inclusion of large, publicly-traded, non-integrated independent 
refiners.
    As proposed, the revised respondent company selection criteria for 
the Form EIA-28 will be that, in order to be included in the survey 
group, the U.S.-based company (or its parent company) must be publicly-
traded, and must account for 1 percent or more of U.S. production or 
reserves of crude oil (including natural gas liquids) or natural gas, 
or 1 percent or more of U.S. refining capacity or refined product sales 
volume.
    The proposed deletion of the Top-50 Requirement will have the 
effect of adding large non-integrated independent refining companies to 
the Form EIA-28 survey group. This addition will result in EIA's 
maintaining its compliance with the requirement of Pub. L. 95-91, 
section 205(h) relative to the U.S. petroleum refining industry. More 
particularly, the addition of large, U.S. non-integrated refining 
companies not already identified by the current FRS selection criteria 
would result in the FRS respondent companies (including their joint 
ventures) constituting an expected 87 percent of domestic refining 
capacity during 1998, instead of the 60 percent (or less) industry 
representation anticipated under the current respondent company 
selection criteria.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties including FRS 
data users should comment on the actions discussed in item II. Given 
that this reporting requirement relies heavily on company financial 
data, and relates to accounting practices familiar to those developing 
annual report and/or Securities and Exchange Commission filings, 
coordination with respondent company Controller offices is recommended. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or 
included in the request for OMB approval. The comments also will become 
a matter of public record.
    Also, each year the Form EIA-28 respondent companies provide 
estimates of the reporting burden associated with their annual filings. 
Reporting burden includes the total time expended to generate, 
maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the information requested on 
Form EIA-28. Since the Form EIA-28 respondent companies include some of 
the largest worldwide energy companies, reporting burden varies 
considerably among respondents--depending on the geographic extent of 
their operations, the complexity of the company, the extent of their 
automation, and the number of lines of business in which they are 
engaged. The currently reported average burden for the more complex 
respondent companies is approximately 1050 hours per year, ranging from 
a high of 2,200 hours to a low of 440 hours. Less complex Form EIA-28 
respondent companies, such as those primarily involved in only one 
energy-related line of business, have estimated their annual reporting 
burden at an average of 180 hours, ranging from a high of 400 hours to 
a low of 35 hours. If a company has questions about what level of Form 
EIA-28 reporting burden it might experience, please contact Jon 
Rasmussen at (202) 586-1449 (or e-mail: [email protected]) for 
additional information. If a company is interested in learning of steps 
it might take to reduce its current reporting burden, please contact 
Greg Filas at (202) 586-1347 (or e-mail: [email protected]).

    Statutory Authority: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, title 44, U.S.C. Chapter 35).


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    Issued in Washington, DC September 29, 1998.
Jay H. Casselberry,
Agency Clearance Officer, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-26593 Filed 10-2-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P