Proposed Collection; Comment Request

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

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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

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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.

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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