Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey

EIA-757
Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey
Instructions
1.

Questions

If you have any questions on the Form EIA-757, please contact Lejla Alic at 202-5860858 (Lejla.Alic@eia.doe.gov).
2.

Purpose

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form EIA-757, “Survey of Natural Gas
Processing Plants” is used to collect information on the capacity, status, and operations
of natural gas processing plants and to monitor constraints of natural gas processing
plants during periods of supply disruption in areas affected by an emergency, such as a
hurricane.
3.

Who Must Submit

Each recipient of Form EIA-757 must submit responses to each question in Form EIA757 for the domestic natural gas processing plant identified in the notification letter,
email or phone call. In cases in which one recipient receives notification to report for
more than one natural gas processing plant, the recipient must submit separate responses
for each natural gas processing plant identified by the EIA. Companies receiving
notification to report Schedule B: “Emergency Status Report” information were selected
by the EIA from a list of all domestic natural gas processing plants based on proximity to
the natural gas supply disruption and plant capacity.
4.

When to Submit

Recipients of Form EIA-757 are required to submit responses to each question on the
form according to the collection schedule listed in the notification letter, email and/or
phone call. The collection schedule will specify the Schedule or Schedules to complete
and how often, when and where to submit the data. Each submission should include the
most current information possible. The recipient will be notified of any changes to the
collection schedule via email or phone.
5.

Where to Submit

Responses to all questions on Form EIA-757 may be submitted by facsimile, email, or
phone.
Fax responses to: (list phone number)
Email responses to: (list phone number)
Secure File Transfer: (list website)

Give response over the phone by calling: (list phone number)
6.

Copies of Survey Form and Instructions

Copies in portable document format (PDF) and spreadsheet format (XLS) are available at
[List location - TBD]
You may also request
(Lejla.Alic@eia.doe.gov).
7.

copies

by

contacting

Lejla

Alic

at

202-586-0858

General Instructions

Report all responses as of the date and time specified in the notification letter, e-mail or
phone call, on the day of submission. Any changes or revisions should be reported in the
next survey.
Report actual values or, if necessary, report estimated values. Report all quantities, as
appropriate, in the nearest whole number in million cubic feet per day (MMcf per day).
Schedule A is the “Baseline Report”, which will be collected from all processing plants at
most once every 3 years.
Schedule B is the “Emergency Status Report”, which will only be activated during an
emergency situation that impacts the supply of natural gas to consumers. Schedule B will
be collected only from those processing plants in the area where the natural gas supply
disruption has occurred. The schedule of report submission will be specified in the
notification e-mail, letter, fax or phone call. In addition, if it has been more than 1 year
since Schedule A was submitted, respondents to Schedule B may also be asked to submit
an updated Schedule A.
8.

Specific Instructions

Plant Identification
• EIA ID Number is a unique identifier provided by EIA.
• The plant address is the physical location of the plant. Do not use a P.O. Box
or corporate address.
Contacts
The primary and secondary contacts should be personnel with working knowledge
of the plant, such as managerial personnel at the operating company. For
example, the contact person should be able to provide capacity, flow, and pipeline
data to EIA, as well as be able to describe any damage to the processing plant and
to estimate restoration timeframes if there is damage to the plant. The phone, fax
and email information should allow EIA to locate this person during an
emergency. Because of the rapid turnaround of Schedule B, the secondary

contact will be contacted if the primary respondent cannot be reached by EIA
within a reasonable timeframe.
Schedule A: Baseline Report
•

Dry natural gas: Natural gas which remains after: 1) the liquefiable
hydrocarbon portion has been removed from the gas stream (i.e., gas after
lease, field, and/or plant separation); and 2) any volumes of nonhydrocarbon
gases have been removed where they occur in sufficient quantity to render the
gas unmarketable. Note: Dry natural gas is also known as consumer-grade
natural gas. The parameters for measurement are cubic feet at 60 degrees
Fahrenheit and 14.73 pounds per square inch absolute.

•

Natural gas liquids (NGL): Those hydrocarbons in natural gas that are
separated from the gas as liquids through the process of absorption,
condensation, adsorption, or other methods in gas processing or cycling
plants. Generally such liquids consist of propane and heavier hydrocarbons
and are commonly referred to as lease condensate, natural gasoline, and
liquefied petroleum gases. Natural gas liquids include natural gas plant liquids
(primarily ethane, propane, butane, and isobutane) and lease condensate
(primarily pentanes produced from natural gas at lease separators and field
facilities.)

•

Pipeline Type: Indicate by checking the appropriate boxes, whether the
pipeline enters or exits the plant and if the pipeline transports wet gas,
processed gas or liquids.

•

Primary Pipeline(s): Primary pipelines are the largest capacity pipelines that
are connected, either entering or exiting the processing plant.

•

Wet natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbon compounds and small quantities
of various nonhydrocarbons existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with
crude oil in porous rock formations at reservoir conditions. The principal
hydrocarbons normally contained in the mixture are methane, ethane, propane,
butane, and pentane. Typical nonhydrocarbon gases that may be present in
reservoir natural gas are water vapor, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide,
nitrogen and trace amounts of helium. Under reservoir conditions, natural gas
and its associated liquefiable portions occur either in a single gaseous phase in
the reservoir or in solution with crude oil and are not distinguishable at the
time as separate substances. Note: The Securities and Exchange Commission
and the Financial Accounting Standards Board refer to this product as natural
gas.

Schedule B: Emergency Status Report
Complete Schedule B only in response to EIA’s request for information.

If the plant has no capacity constraints or operating constraints resulting from the supply
emergency, please check the boxes labeled NONE in Part 5. If there are capacity or
operating constraints, only check or indicate constraints that have arisen since occurred. Check all conditions that apply.
• Internal Constraints are defined as conditions of the physical plant facility,
including the complex of structures, machinery and associated equipment,
and/or operating personnel that result in a reduction in the plant’s current
operating capacity. Internal constraints include:
- Building infrastructure including damage to physical plant buildings
and facilities;
- Employee or operator availability, or physical access to the plant is
reduced or eliminated;
- Damage to electronic or operational equipment that either reduce or
remove the ability to operate the plant;
- Communications, including SCADA systems, telecommunications and
interpersonal communication devices necessary to operate the plant are
damaged;
- Debris or foreign matter is present at the processing plant as a result of
, and is limiting plant capacity;
- Flooding or water damage;
- Other constraints of the processing plant, not listed above, that have
reduced the processing capacity of the plant. For instance, if there is a
reduction in the plant’s capability to generate electricity, please note it
here.
- None – There are no limitations on plant capacity caused by conditions
of the physical plant facility. None of the conditions listed above,
apply.
• External Constraints are defined as conditions that are external to processing
plant, the complex of structures, machinery and associated equipment, that
reduce the operating capability of the plant to processing natural gas. External
constraints include:
- Upstream supply constraints such as pipeline supplies to the plant have
been reduced since ;
- Downstream infrastructure constraints including a reduction in the
capacity of natural gas and/or liquids pipeline(s) exiting the plant, or
the capacity of downstream fractionators or other facilities to take the
products from the processing plant;
- Downstream demand reduction resulting from , for
example, an industrial facility that typically consumes the processed
products may have been damaged by leading to a
decrease in demand.
- Power source including reduced electricity available from outside the
plant. (Constraints in self-generated electrical power should be listed
above, under internal constraints – Other.)

Current Post-Emergency Plant Restoration
Complete Part 6, Current Estimate of Plant Restoration, if the operational status of
your plant has been affected by , and you have indicated in Part 5
that there are internal constraints. This section refers to the recovery of, at least,
the dehydration function of the plant. Once the dehydration function has been
fully restored to pre-event levels, Part 6 does not need to be completed. If you
need to change any of the information previously reported, please indicate the
revision in the area in Part 6 provided for response explanations, and provide a
reason for the revision.
9.

Provisions Regarding Confidentiality of Information

The information reported on Form EIA-757 will be protected and not disclosed to the
public to the extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552, the Department of Energy (DOE) regulations, 10
C.F.R. §1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. §1905.
The Federal Energy Administration Act requires the EIA to provide company-specific
data to other Federal agencies when requested for official use. The information reported
on this form may also be made available, upon request, to another DOE component; to
any Committee of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, or other Federal
agencies authorized by law to receive such information. A court of competent
jurisdiction may obtain this information in response to an order. The information may be
used for any nonstatistical purposes such as administrative, regulatory, law enforcement,
or adjudicatory purposes.
Company specific data are also provided to other DOE offices for the purpose of
examining specific operations in the context of emergency response planning and actual
emergencies.
Disclosure limitation procedures are not applied to the statistical data published from this
survey’s information. Thus, there may be some statistics that are based on data from
fewer than three respondents, or that are dominated by data from one or two large
respondents. In these cases, it may be possible for a knowledgeable person to estimate
the information reported by a specific respondent.
10.

Sanctions

The timely submission of Form EIA-757 by those required to report is mandatory under
Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-275), as
amended. Failure to respond may result in a civil penalty of not more than $2,750 each
day for each violation, or a fine of not more than $5,000 for each willful violation.