FERC said Friday that it will hold a technical conference on April 24 to discuss issues related to the adequacy of natural gas price information, including how data is collected, how publicly available quotes are checked for authenticity and reliability, adequacy of coverage, what effort is made to determine whether the information received and published is complete or representative of its type of transaction, and what models best serve price discovery needs for natural gas markets.

The conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission headquarters, 888 First Street, NW, Washington, DC, in the Commission Meeting Room (Room 2C). There is neither pre-registration nor a registration fee and all interested parties are invited to attend.

The Commission said it plans to hear from those who report the transactions, those receiving and publishing the price information, those using the published data reports, and those with constructive suggestions for “overcoming impediments and inconsistencies” and specific proposals. FERC requests that anyone with a specific proposal that would be useful to review before the conference file the proposal in docket number AD03-7-000 for all to access.

“We would like to explore actions necessary to develop trustworthy price information,” the Commission said. “We look forward to an informative discussion of the issues and options that would best provide all participants in the market clear, transparent, dependable, and accurate price signals with which to make informed decisions.”

Further details on the conference, including the agenda and a list of participants, will be released as plans evolve. For additional information, contact Saida Shaalan of the Office of Market Oversight & Investigations at 202-502-8278 or by e-mail, Saida.Shaalan@ferc.gov.

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