The Energy Information Administration is preparing take over the American Gas Association’s (AGA) storage survey at the end of the winter. But it first must get clearance from the Office of Management and Budget for the reporting burden placed on storage companies, EIA’s survey methodology and the budget requirements for conducting the survey. It also has to arrange the staffing and resources and perform an operational test before it can get a green light.

These requirements could take longer than expected, and the agency is hoping the AGA will continue its survey at least through the end of March. AGA already has stated the report will be discontinued at the beginning of January.

EIA intends to make its weekly gas storage survey very similar, but not identical to AGA’s. One important difference is that it will require mandatory participation from the companies it chooses to be part of the survey sample. It also will have the added benefit of being able to compare reported weekly data with its longstanding monthly information from the storage companies. EIA hasn’t ironed out all the details or laid down a schedule, but observers expect its report will have similar regional information to AGA’s and would be released at a similar time.

EIA is expected to file its plans with the OMB sometime soon after Thanksgiving. It expects the OMB to put the filing through fast-track processing and hand down a decision about two weeks after it’s filed. But getting the survey ready could take at least several months. EIA expects to issue a schedule for launching the survey in early December. If AGA does not agree to continue the survey past January, the market could be without its most valuable weekly information on supply and demand for several months.

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