[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 28211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12949]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No RM93-11-000]


Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant to the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992; Notice of Annual Change in the Producer Price Index 
for Finished Goods

May 19, 2003.
    The Commission's regulations include a methodology for oil 
pipelines to change their rates through use of an index system that 
establishes ceiling levels for such rates. The index system as set 
forth at 18 CFR 342.3 is based on the annual change in the Producer 
Price Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG). 19 CFR 342.3(d)(2) provides 
that the oil pricing index to be used is PPI-FG minus 1 percent. 
However, on February 24, 2003, the Commission issued an Order on Remand 
of its Five-Year Review of Oil Pricing Index in Docket Nos. RM00-11-000 
and -001 which determined that the appropriate oil pricing index should 
be PPI without the minus 1 per cent adjustment.\1\ The regulations 
provide that each year the Commission will publish an index reflecting 
the final change in the PPI-FG, after the final PPI-FG is made 
available by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of each calendar 
year.
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    \1\ 102 FERC ] 61,195 at P 1 (2003).
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    The annual average PPI-FG index figure for 2001 was 140.7 and the 
annual average PPI-FG index figure for 2002 was 138.9.\2\ Thus, the 
percent change (expressed as a decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG 
from 2001 to 2002 is negative 0.012793.\3\ Oil pipelines must multiply 
their July 1, 2002--June 30, 2003, index ceiling levels by negative 
0.987207\4\ to compute their index ceiling levels for the period July 
1, 2003, through June 30, 2004, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). For 
guidance in calculating the ceiling levels for each period beginning 
January 1, l995,\5\ see Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 FERC 61,416 at 
n.6 (1995).
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    \2\ The final figure for the annual average PPI-FG is published 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in mid-May of each year. 
This figure is publicly available from the Division of Industrial 
Prices and Price Indexes of the BLS, at (202) 691-7705, and in print 
in August in Table 1 of the annual data supplement to the BLS 
publication Producer Price Indexes via the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ppi. To obtain the BLS data, click on Get Detailed 
Statistics, then click on Commodity Data under the Most Requested 
Statistics heading. At the next screen, Producer Price Index--
Commodity, select the first box, Finished goods--WPUSOP3000, then 
scroll all the way to the bottom of this screen and click on 
Retrieve data.
    \3\ [138.9--140.7] / 140.7 =--0.012793
    \4\ 1 + (-0.012793) =--0.987207
    \5\ For a listing of all prior multipliers issued by the 
Commission, see the Commission's website,http://www.ferc.gov. The 
table of multipliers can be found under the headings ``Oil'' and 
``Index''.
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Document Availability

    In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view or print the contents of this document via the 
Internet through FERC's home page (http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's 
Public Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
    From FERC's home page on the Internet, this information is 
available in the Federal Energy Regulatory Records Information System 
(FERRIS). The full text of this document is available on FERRIS in PDF 
and WordPerfect format for viewing, printing, or downloading. To access 
this document in FERRIS, type the docket number excluding the last 
three digits of this document in the docket number field.
    This document is available for review at the Commission or may be 
viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov, using the 
``FERRIS'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three 
digits in the docket number field to access the document. For 
assistance, contact FERC Online Support at [email protected] 
or toll-free at (866)208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202)502-8659.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-12949 Filed 5-22-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P