FERC Form No. 552: Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions

Strategic Insights -

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requires natural gas market participants to submit the FERC Form No. 552 annually, which collects information on physical natural gas transactions that use an index or contribute to gas price indices. The form is mandatory for buyers and sellers with reportable natural gas purchases or sales exceeding 2.2 trillion British Thermal Units (TBtu) or 2.2 million million BTUs (MMBtu) in the reporting year.

Key Takeaways:

  • The FERC Form No. 552 collects transactional information from natural gas market participants, including physical natural gas buyers and sellers, to provide information on transactions that use an index or contribute to gas price indices.
  • The report is non-confidential and public, and filers must complete and submit the form annually if their reportable natural gas purchases or sales exceed 2.2 TBtu or 2.2 MMBtu in the reporting year.
  • The form includes multiple schedules, such as the Schedule of Reporting Companies, and requires filers to report all gas quantities in trillion British Thermal Units (TBtu) unless otherwise specified.
  • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has clarified that transactions referred to an index, or that contribute to or may contribute to gas index formation, are reportable transactions.
  • The Commission accepts a typed name as an electronic signature for the Company Officer's signature, and the completed form must be eFiled by May 1st of the year following the reporting year.
  • The public reporting burden for the FERC Form No. 552 collection of information is estimated to average 10 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data-needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.
  • The FERC Form No. 552 includes a variety of definitions, such as Affiliate, Date of Report, and Physical Natural Gas Transaction, which can be found on page 4 of the form.

Statistics:

  • 2.2 TBtu or 2.2 MMBtu: the threshold for reportable natural gas purchases or sales that trigger the requirement to submit the FERC Form No. 552.
  • 10 hours: the estimated average time required to complete the FERC Form No. 552 collection of information.
  • May 1st: the deadline for submitting the completed FERC Form No. 552 eFile.

Sources:

  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). (2023). FERC TRANSACTION REPORT FERC FORM No. 552: Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions.
  • Order No. 704-C: clarification on transactions that use an index.
  • Order No. 704 and 704-A: discussion of particular instances of physical natural gas transactions.
  • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (RM07-10-000): estimate of public reporting burden for the FERC Form No. 552 collection of information.