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U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON DC 20585

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 7, 2005

EIA Solicits Public Comment on Weekly Natural Gas Storage Revision Policy

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting public comments on its policy for revisions to the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR) in a Federal Register notice published today.  The Notice is available in the Friday, January 7, 2005 Federal Register. EIA has a copy on its web site at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oss/WNGSR-Revision-Policy-for-Comments-Jan7-2005.pdf

The decision to seek public comment follows the revision of WNGSR data for the week ending November 19, 2004.  Those estimates were released on November 24, 2004 and revised on December 2, 2004 in the next regularly scheduled WNGSR issue, in accord with the WNGSR revision policy established in 2002.  The current policy was established on the basis of public comments made in response to a previous Federal Register notice. The current policy is available at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oss/WNGSR-Revision-Policy-Nov12-2002.pdf.

“EIA has provided two examples of alternatives to the current revision policy to illustrate important issues to be considered,” noted EIA Administrator Guy Caruso.  “We are open to other suggestions.  We urge commenters to consider the problem of equal and adequate notification of an upcoming revision, the timing of revisions relative to government and market hours of operations, and the size of revisions possibly justifying releases out of the normal WNGSR cycle.”

The comment period ends February 7, 2005.  Information about submitting comments is included in the Federal Register notice.

The Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report provides weekly estimates of working gas volumes held in underground storage facilities at the national and regional levels.  The WNGSR is based on information collected on Form EIA-912 from operators of underground natural gas storage fields. As noted on the EIA website at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oss/WNGSR-Revision-Policy-Nov12-2002.pdf , under the present policy, EIA presents revisions of 7 Billion cubic feet (Bcf) or more as part of the next week’s WNGSR, and unscheduled releases of storage estimates are not provided.

The information in this press release was prepared by the Energy Information Administration, the independent statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.  The information contained in the press release should be attributed to the Energy Information Administration and should not be construed as advocating or reflecting any policy position of the Department of Energy or any other organization.

EIA Program Contact:  Elizabeth Campbell, 202/586-5590

EIA Press Contact:  National Energy Information Center, 202/586-8800

EIA-2005-01

Contact:

National Energy Information Center
Infoctr@eia.doe.gov
Phone:(202) 586-8800
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