 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
DATE: September 9, 1997
CONTACT: Charlotte LeGates
PHONE: 202/326-9316
FAX: 202/326-9334
E-MAIL: clegates@ngsa.org
Washington, DC -- The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) filed comments today in the ongoing saga of natural gas royalties.
The comments respond to the Minerals Management Service's (MMS's) withdrawal of its proposed rulemaking that would have adopted an index-price method for valuing natural gas produced on federal leases, along with other alternatives. That proposal had been the result of more than three years of negotiations between industry and government. The NGSA comments also respond to two new MMS proposals on royalty valuation.
"We are disappointed that, after so much effort and expense by the natural gas industry, the MMS would withdraw the negotiated rulemaking," said Vastar Associate General Counsel Norma Rosner, who chairs NGSA's Royalty Valuation Task Force.
"The industry needs workable benchmarks for valuing natural gas, but the MMS has brought us no closer to a solution with its substitute proposal," she continued. Stating that MMS lacks authority to adopt either of the two new alternatives, the NGSA filing urges a return either to the earlier negotiated rulemaking or to the Unified Industry Proposals previously filed.
NGSA's comments also support an alternative that has gained widespread acceptance within the industry: that MMS collect and market its royalties "in kind."
"Unless MMS is willing to adopt reasonable, market-based benchmarks for valuing gas," Rosner commented, "the only thing left is for natural gas producers to say, 'Here's the gas. Come take it.'"
Copies of the NGSA filing are available by calling the NGSA receptionist
(202/326-9300) or from this website by clicking
here.
The Natural Gas Supply Association represents producers and marketers of domestic natural gas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This page last updated September 16, 1997.