Form EIA-882T(49) Petroleum Supply Burden Testing

Protocol, Form EIA-812: Monthly Product Pipeline Report

Pre-form

Before we begin I want to first introduce everyone on EIA’s side of the phone:

• Bob Rutchik and Grace O’Neill from the Statistical Methods Group (explain if necessary: were concerned primarily with how you understand the form and the information were requesting)

• And Matt Breslin from the Petroleum Division (if necessary: and he’s the subject area expert)

Next, I’d like to explain a little bit about what we’re going to do.

• As we have discussed, EIA is calling to get a better understanding of the process you go through to report your 812 data to us. This information will be used as input to any further survey changes or redesign efforts. So what we’re going to do is talk to you about your reporting process and ask some specific questions about specific parts of the process

• Finally, there are no right or wrong answers and we’re looking to understand how you complete this form

*For reference purposes, the estimated burden is 3 hours per response*

Okay let’s begin:

First, I’d like to ask you some questions about your job and background:

What is your role at this company?

• Do you have any training or background in the petroleum industry or any other industry that would help you understand this form?

• How long have you worked here?

• How long have you been in the industry?

How long have you been responsible for filling out this form?

• Do you fill out similar forms for this company? At other industry related jobs?

• If so, where and for how long?

• Does anyone else complete these kinds of forms besides you?

• What percentage of your time is spent completing forms?

Next, can you tell us a little bit about what you do before you sit down to start filling out the 812? (The 812 lands on your desk, what do you do first?)

Components of the process that should be probed if not mentioned:

1. Time to review instructions and form

• When you sit down with a new form, how much time do you spend to go through it to familiarize yourself with it?

Probe: Do you look at the form?

Probe: Do you read the instructions?

2. Time spent collecting the necessary data to complete the form

• How much time do you spend to gather the data from within your company?

Probe: Is part of time spent consulting with people within/outside your company?

Probe: How hard is it to get the needed data?

• How much time do you spend aggregating the data that you use to complete the form?

• How do you and others share the data with each other? Emails? Phone calls? Personal visits? Are there any questions the EIA-812 asks for which you have to spend a lot of time gathering and aggregate data because, for example, your company does not keep that element in your records or it does not map easily to the EIA-812?

• Probe: How much time do you spend on this [these] element each week/month?

3. Completing the form

• How long does it take you to complete the form once you have collected and aggregated all the necessary data?

4. Reviewing the form

• Does anyone else in your company review the information on the form before it’s submitted to EIA?

Probe: How long does that take?

5. Answering any follow-up questions from EIA

• How often do you receive follow up calls from EIA?

• What kind of questions does EIA usually ask you?

• Does X question usually require research or more work on your part?

• How much time does this process take?

All those things considered, how long do you think it takes you to complete the 812 from the first time you pick up the form to the last follow-up phone call from EIA?

• If they say it varies, probe for a range?

Ask what components cause it to vary from month to month?

• Are some months easier to report than others?

• What kinds of changes in your company effect how long it takes you to report?

Do you remember what this process was like when you did the survey for the first time?

• Did you make any system modifications to make reporting easier?

• How long (how many reporting cycles) did it take before you felt comfortable in the reporting routine you outlined?

• Was there any training from the person before you?

• How long did the training take?

• Did you receive any training internal or from EIA?

Given the recent forms changes to the EIA 812 (effective January 2010 reporting month):

• How did those changes affect your data gathering process?

• How much time did it add or subtract to your process?

Does anybody else [at the table] have any questions?

Do you have any questions for EIA?

Thank you for your time.

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