Platts seeks comments on addition of US natural gas price points

Platts is considering adding six new North American locations to its daily spot-gas price survey and three new locations to its monthly bidweek price survey and is seeking comments on the proposed additions by March 20, 2009. Please submit your comments via e-mail to gas_survey_comments@platts.com. If you have questions concerning the proposed location descriptions, please contact Kelley Doolan at kelley_doolan@Platts.com or 202-383-2145; or Tom Castleman at tom_castleman@Platts.com; 713-658-3263.

At the same time, Platts is no longer considering, at this time, adding new daily spot-gas and monthly bidweek spot-gas tables for locations where Platts receives trading information but liquidity is too limited or inconsistent for the location to be included in Platts? regular spot-gas price tables.

After considering comments on a notice published in October 2008, Platts concluded that a table for less-liquid hubs would introduce too much instability and uncertainty regarding Platts price postings. Postings for less-liquid hubs would need to be discontinued if trading activity lessened, while hubs where trading activity increases would be moved to Platts' existing tables. Platts concluded its goal of providing clarity and stability in its price postings would be better served by continuing its policy of expanding existing daily and monthly tables by adding price points after they display a consistent level of sufficient trading activity.

For the locations it is considering adding to its existing daily spot-gas and monthly bidweek price tables, Platts consistently receives sufficient amounts of trade data to formulate daily and monthly bidweek indexes and assessments, and believes some of the locations may develop into increasingly liquid trading locations. Platts is considering adding three of the locations only to the daily table because trading activity at those locations is not consistently sufficient in the monthly market to add the points to the monthly table at this time.

Below are the proposed additions with location descriptions and where the new locations would appear within the existing tables.

Lebanon Hub (daily and monthly): In the Lebanon, Ohio, area, Platts is considering adding to both the daily and monthly bidweek postings a "Lebanon Hub" location to capture trading delivered to or from Texas Gas Transmission Corp., ANR Pipeline Co., Texas Eastern Transmission Corp., Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. and Dominion Gas Transmission Inc. at Lebanon-area interconnects.

The monthly bidweek posting would appear in the "Market Center Spot Gas Prices" and the "Market Center Bidweek Physical Basis Prices" tables. The daily "Lebanon Hub" posting would appear in the "Appalachia" section of the "Daily price survey" table.

The location would also include Lebanon-area transactions delivered to or from Rockies Express Pipeline once its extension into the area and its interconnects with other pipelines are in service. REX's expansion to the area is currently scheduled to be in service in June 2009.

Northern Border, Ventura Transfer Point (daily and monthly): On Northern Border Pipeline Co., Platts is considering adding a Northern Border, Ventura Transfer Point, location to its daily and monthly bidweek postings. Daily and monthly postings at this location would be designed to capture trading on Northern Border at its Ventura Transfer Point (DRN# 125771) for gas that is not flowing into Northern Natural Gas Co. at the Northern Natural/Northern Border interconnect (DRN#4680).

Gas that is delivered from Northern Border to Northern Natural at Ventura is included in the existing Northern Natural, Ventura, Iowa, postings along with transactions at Northern Natural's Ventura pool.

The monthly bidweek Northern Border, Ventura Transfer Point, posting would appear in the "Prices of Spot Gas Delivered to Pipelines" and "Bidweek Physical Basis Prices Delivered to Pipelines" tables. The daily posting would appear in the "Others" section of the "Daily price survey" table.

Trunkline, zone 1A (daily and monthly): On Trunkline Gas Co., Platts is considering adding a zone 1A location to its daily and monthly bidweek postings. The location would include transactions for gas delivered to Trunkline in zone 1A from the discharge side of its Longville, Louisiana, compressor station and north to the suction side of its Dyersburg, Tennessee, station, as well as transactions at Trunkline's zone 1A pool.

The monthly bidweek postings would appear in the "Prices of Spot Gas Delivered to Pipelines" and "Bidweek Physical Basis Prices Delivered to Pipelines" tables. The daily posting would appear in the "Others? section of the "Daily price survey" table. Iroquois, zone 1 (daily only): On Iroquois Gas Transmission System, Platts is considering adding an Iroquois, zone 1, location to its daily postings. The location would include deliveries from Iroquois starting at the Lisbon, New York, interconnection with St. Lawrence Gas Co. to and including the Wright, New York, interconnection with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.

This posting would appear in the ?Others? section of the "Daily price survey" table.

NGPL, Texok zone-west (daily only): On Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America, Platts is considering adding a Texok zone-west location to its daily postings. This location would include transactions on the western portion of Natural's Texok system. Prior to July 1, 2008, transactions on the western portion of Natural's Texok zone were included with transactions in the eastern portion of the zone in the Natural Texok postings, but Platts refined its Texok description effective July 1, 2008, to exclude the western deals after price values between the east and west substantially separated. As envisioned, the Texok zone-west location would include transactions delivered to Natural at all receipt points on the Texok A/G line between station 801 in Carter County, Oklahoma, and the interconnection between the Texok and Gulf Coast Mainline receipt zones in Cass County, Texas. The existing NGPL, Texok zone posting would be renamed as NGPL, Texok zone-east.

The new Texok zone-west posting would appear in the "Oklahoma" section of the "?Daily price survey" table.

REX, Panhandle (daily only): On Rockies Express Pipeline, Platts is considering adding a location to its daily postings for deliveries from REX at its interconnection with Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. in Audrain County, Missouri. The posting would appear in the "Others" section of the "Daily price survey" table.

In addition to the new postings under consideration, Platts would like to hear your thoughts on the best way to define a Tennessee Gas Pipeline pricing point for gas delivered from Tennessee in zone 4. Specifically, Platts would like to know if pricing for gas delivered out of Tennessee's 200 and 300 lines anywhere in the zone, which extends from the Ohio/Kentucky border to the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border, is sufficiently comparable to include in a single pricing location, and if not, what segments or collections of delivery points comprise the most useful price posting.

Platts would like to hear your thoughts and suggestions on the proposed additions and how well the location descriptions would encompass these markets. Please submit your comments via e-mail by March 20 to gas_survey_comments@platts.com. If you have questions concerning the proposed location descriptions, please contact Kelley Doolan at kelley_doolan@Platts.com; 202-383-2145, or Tom Castleman at tom_castleman@Platts.com; 713-658-3263.