THIS FILING IS

Item 1: □ An Initial (Original) Submission OR □ Resubmission No. ___
Form No. 552

OMB No. 1902-0242

Expires (mm/dd/yyyy)










FERC TRANSACTION REPORT

FERC FORM No. 552: Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions




These reports are mandatory under the Natural Gas Act, Section 23(a)(2), and 18 CFR Parts 260.401. Failure to report may result in criminal fines, civil penalties, and other sanctions as provided by law. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does not consider these reports to be of a confidential nature.



Exact Legal Name of Respondent (Company)

Year of Report

End of


FERC FORM No. 552 (New)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING THE FERC FORM NO. 552


GENERAL INFORMATION


I Purpose


FERC Form No. 552 collects transactional information from natural gas market participants. The filing of this information is necessary to provide information regarding the size of the physical gas market, the use of the natural spot markets, and the use of fixed and index price transactions. This form is considered to be a non-confidential public use form.


II. Who Must Submit


Wholesale natural gas buyers and sellers must fill out the form annually if they make use of a blanket sales certificate under § 284.402 or § 284.284 or if their natural gas purchases or sales were greater than 2.2 million (2,200,000) MMBtus in the reporting year.


If a natural gas market participant is required to fill out Form No. 552 because it makes use of a blanket sales certificate under § 284.402 or § 284.284, but its natural gas purchases and sales were each lower than 2.2 million (2,200,000) MMBtus in the reporting year, then it is not required to report the schedule of Form No. 552 that collects volumetric information.


III. What and Where to Submit


  1. Submit FERC Form No. 552 electronically through the submission software at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eforms.asp#552.

  1. The Corporate Officer Certification must be submitted electronically as part of the FERC Form No. 552 filing.


(c) Users may obtain additional blank copies of FERC Form No. 552 for reference free of charge from: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eforms.asp#552. Copies may also be obtained from the Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426 or by calling (202) 502‑8371.


IV. When to Submit:

The FERC Form No. 552 must be filed by May 1st of the year following the reporting year (18 C.F.R. § 260.401).

V. Where to Send Comments on Public Reporting Burden.


The public reporting burden for the FERC Form No. 552 collection of information is estimated to average 4 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data‑needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. This estimate was noted in the Notice of Purposed Rulemaking and in the Final Rule (RM07-10-000) and addressed by commenters.


Filers may send additional comments regarding these burden estimates or any aspect of these collections of information, including suggestions for reducing burden, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426 (Attention: Information Clearance Officer); and to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 (Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission). No person shall be subject to any penalty if any collection of information does not display a valid control number (44 U.S.C. § 3512 (a)).



GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS


  1. All respondents (i.e., wholesale natural gas buyers and sellers that make use of a blanket sales certificate under § 284.402 or § 284.284 or that purchase or sell more than 2.2 million (2,200,000) MMBtus in the reporting year) must identify themselves annually by filling-out the first part of Form No. 552.

  2. Aggregation across affiliates is permitted, though not required. If a respondent is aggregating volumes across affiliates, the respondent must fill in the “Schedule of Reporting Companies” which lists those affiliates and a separate “Price Index Reporting” schedule for each affiliate.

  3. Asset managers may not report aggregated information for their customers in Form No. 552.

  4. Report all gas quantities in Trillion British Thermal Unit (TBtu) unless the schedule specifically requires the reporting in another unit of measurement.

  5. For reported volumes, enter whole numbers only, except where otherwise noted.

  6. Report volumes of physical natural gas as explained in the definitions.

  7. Complete each question fully and accurately, even if it has been answered in a previous report. Enter the word "None" where it truly and completely states the fact.

  8. Enter the month, day, and year for all dates. Use customary abbreviations. The "Date of Report" included in the header of each page is to be completed only for resubmissions (see IX. below).

  9. For any resubmissions, submit the electronic filing using the form submission only. Please explain the reason for the resubmission in a footnote to the data field.

  10. Footnote and further explain as necessary.

  11. Do not make references to reports of previous periods/years or to other reports in lieu of required entries, except as specifically authorized.

  12. For further assistance in filling out Form No. 552, Commission staff will maintain a list of current Reportable Locations with links to Price Index Publishers’ descriptions of their processes for receiving price information and publishing indices on the ferc.gov website at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eforms.asp#552.






DEFINITIONS

  1. Affiliate– An affiliate means a person who controls, is controlled by or is under common control with another person.


  1. Blanket Certificate – A blanket certificate means either (i) a blanket marketing certificate granted to a person that is not an interstate pipeline pursuant to 18 CFR § 284.402 or (ii) a blanket certificate for unbundled sales service granted to an interstate pipeline pursuant to 18 CFR § 284.284.


  1. Date of Report – The date the report is submitted to the Commission.


  1. Fixed Price – A “Physical Natural Gas” price determined by agreement between buyer and seller and not benchmarked to any other source of information. For example, Physical Basis transactions that directly refer to futures prices, for the purpose of this form, are not “Fixed Price” transactions.


  1. Next-Day Delivery – Delivery of a transaction executed prior to NAESB nomination deadline (11:30am Central Prevailing Time) on one day for uniform physical delivery over the next pipeline day. Transactions done for Friday are usually for flow on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday inclusive. Trading patterns may vary in the case of holidays or the end of a month that occurs on a weekend. Commission staff will maintain links to “Price Index Publishers’” descriptions of their processes for receiving price information and publishing indices on the ferc.gov website at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eforms.asp#552.


  1. Next-Month Delivery – Delivery of a transaction executed during the last five (5) business days of one month for uniform physical delivery over the next month.


  1. Physical Natural Gas – Natural gas transactions that contain an obligation to deliver natural gas at a specified location and at a specified time, with the exception of physically-delivered futures contracts. It is not necessary that natural gas actually be delivered under the transactions, only that the delivery obligation existed in the agreement when executed. Certain Physical Natural Gas transactions may not remain in existence through the time of delivery because they were traded away or “booked out.” For purposes of this form, these transactions should be included whether they went to delivery or not. The Final Rule discusses a variety of particular instances. Among these, the following physical natural gas volumes should be included in volumetric data submitted in the Form No. 552:


    1. cash-out, imbalance makeup and operational volumes reported by pipelines; and

    2. volumes attributable to royalty-in-kind transactions, gas provided for processing such as plant thermal reduction, and purchases and sales related to the production and gathering function.


The following physical natural gas volumes should be excluded in volumetric data submitted in the Form No. 552:

  1. sales to and purchases by end-users,

  2. sales or purchases outside the United States of America,

  3. transactions take place among affiliates,

  4. any type of financially-settled transaction,

  5. volumes traded in futures contracts, even those that go to physical delivery, and

  6. volumes of imported LNG traded prior to regasification and exported LNG traded after liquefaction.


  1. Price Index Publisher – Companies that report price indices for U.S. wholesale natural gas markets. The list of companies can change over time. Commission staff will maintain a list of relevant “Price Index Publishers” with links to their descriptions of their processes for receiving price information and publishing indices on the ferc.gov website at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eforms.asp#552.


  1. Prices that Refer to (Daily or Monthly) Price Indices – Prices for “Wholesale Natural Gas Purchases” or “Sales” that reference directly a daily or monthly index price published by a “Price Index Publisher” rather than a “Fixed Price” or a price that refers directly to some other benchmark.


  1. Quantity – Amount of purchases or sales expressed in units of energy “British Thermal Units” (Btu). One million BTUs (MMBtu) are, by definition, the same as one Dekatherm (Dth). A volume of one billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas contains approximately one trillion Btus (TBtu or million MMBtu) of energy depending on the exact energy content of the natural gas. The quantities to be reported in the ”Purchase and Sales Information” schedule should be measured in TBtus.


  1. Reportable Locations – Those locations (hubs, pipelines, regions, etc.) where “Price Index Publishers” collect “Fixed Price” information for transactions with “Next-Day” or “Next-Month Delivery” obligations, and produce index prices. These locations may change over time. Commission staff will maintain a list of current “Reportable Locations” with links to “Price Index Publishers” descriptions of their processes for receiving price information and publishing indices on the ferc.gov website at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eforms.asp#552.


  1. Reporting Company – The person, corporation, licensee, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality on whose behalf the report is being submitted by the “Respondent.”


  1. Respondent – The person, corporation, licensee, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality that is submitting the report either on its own behalf, or on behalf of itself and/or its affiliates. A Respondent may choose to either report for all its affiliates collectively, or may choose to have each of its affiliates report separately as their own “Respondent.” If reporting collectively, the reporting “Respondent” and must report for each “Affiliate” in the “Schedule of Reporting Companies” and the “Price Index Reporting Schedule,” and collectively for all its affiliates in the “Purchase and Sales Information” schedule.


  1. Wholesale Natural Gas Purchases – The “Quantity” of “Physical Natural Gas” purchased by the “Reporting Company” during the “Year of Report,” with the exception of certain futures contracts. Purchases by end users should be excluded.


  1. Wholesale Natural Gas Sales – The “Quantity” of “Physical Natural Gas” sold by the “Reporting Company” during the “Year of Report” to customers that do not use all the natural gas they buy themselves under contracts with physical delivery obligations, with the exception of physically-delivered futures contracts. Purchases by end users should be excluded.


  1. Year of Report – The calendar year for which the report is being submitted.