Intelligence Press Inc. (IP) Wednesday withdrew its request for the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) to take up the task of standardizing the names and definitions of natural gas pricing point locations, after a number of members of the group’s Wholesale Gas Quadrant Executive Committee objected to having anything to do with the controversial area of price reporting.

Several members at a committee meeting said they were concerned that NAESB would get into the business of determining pricing points and somehow have an impact on prices themselves. Others said the function, which had been determined in the past by the publishers working with market participants, should continue to be worked out in the marketplace.

IP, which publishes gas price surveys in Daily Gas Price Index and Weekly Gas Price Index, had asked NAESB to consider working in conjunction with the pricing publications to develop standard definitions so that price surveys from different publishers could more easily be compared. This would help to increase the transparency in the market and aid companies contributing to the price surveys. It would help energy company back office personnel who now are submitting data instead of traders, to know which transactions should be listed under the different pricing points.

Platts, which publishes price surveys in Gas Daily and Inside FERC’s Gas Market Report, had agreed to support the request if it was approved by NAESB. A triage committee earlier had unanimously agreed that the request fell within NAESB’s scope.

IP, which had framed the request as a narrow technically-oriented function, withdrew the request when it appeared that a number of committee members interpreted it as a more expansive and controversial proposal that could lead to a divisive and very lengthy proceeding with uncertain results.

The publishers have said they will continue to work on definitions individually.

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