The Natural Gas Supply Association said it supports a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission final rule on the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act "as a balanced, comprehensive regulatory solution." NGSA Pres. Skip Horvath said, "The final rule promotes greater transparency. Consistent with our views on pipeline reporting, transparency is something producers support, even when it applies to us."
The order requires OCS gas transportation service providers to make available information regarding their affiliations, rates, terms, and conditions of services. FERC issued Order 639 Apr. 10.
NGSA also is asking FERC to reconsider or clarify certain issues in the order.
Horvath said FERC should provide producers more certainty that production facilities, along with the related agreements and services, are considered to qualify under the commission's feeder line exemption if FERC considers them to be subject to OCSLA. He said, "Recognizing the enormous regulatory risk associated with developing offshore projects, producers believe a rebuttable presumption strikes a fair balance between the adoption of a bright line permitting exemption of production-related facilities and the industry's need for certainty."
NGSA also made some suggestions to ensure that the reporting requirements contain no loopholes that would undermine FERC's goals for market monitoring of the OCS.