Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, DC, Apr. 9 -- The US Minerals Management Service proposed regulations Apr. 6 to establish processes for resolving offshore oil and gas pipeline access disputes.
The proposed regulations are designed to establish a way for shippers of oil and gas from federal leases on the Outer Continental Shelf to notify MMS if they believe they have been denied open and nondiscriminatory access to pipelines on the OCS, the agency said in a notice published in the Federal Register.
The rules also would provide MMS with tools to assure that pipeline companies provide open and nondiscriminatory access to their systems, it added.
MMS noted that the OCS Lands Act mandates that pipelines provide such access to both owner and nonowner shippers. It said that the proposed rules would implement complaint procedures and alternative measures for shippers who allege they have been denied such access. It said it would accept comments on the proposal through June 5 and on its reporting burden by May 7.
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