Form EIA-815 Monthly Bulk Terminal and Blenders Report Protocol

Form EIA-815, Monthly Bulk Terminal and Blenders Report Protocol

Terminal Name:

Company:

City and State:

Contact(s):

Phone:

E-Mail:

Date and Time of Interview:

Interviewer Name:

We want to thank you again for agreeing to meet with EIA to discuss Form EIA-815, Monthly Bulk Terminal and Blenders Report. EIA has some concerns about Form EIA-815 that it wants to clarify and it wants to discuss these concerns with Form EIA-815 respondents. We hope these discussions will help EIA ask clearer questions on the survey so EIA, its respondents, and customers can be even more confident in the validity and accuracy of Form EIA-815 data.

First, we would like your permission to audio-record this discussion.

• The recording’s primary use will be for EIA to write our final report

• It is only to be listened to by people directly related to this project

• The report will not contain any and personal and corporate identifying information

• If at any time during the conversation you want us to turn off the recorder, just ask and we will

• After I turn on the recorder I’ll ask you to say your name, date, and that it is okay to record

There are not right or wrong answers. EIA just wants to elicit information to write clearer, more informed questions.

Let’s get started.

1. First, how do you define your facility?

If necessary: Your answer may be different than how we define it, but I’m really interested first in how you define it.

If necessary: We have found that different entities define ownership differently and we want to get a sense of how you define your facility so we can compare it to other companies and our current definition of a bulk terminal.

Possibilities:

• By operations,

• By physical location

• By political boundaries

• By corporate entity

• By IRS tax control number (TCN)

Does this facility have more than one TCN?

Follow-up: If yes, why?

Probe: What area does each of the numbers cover?

Probe: What activities occur within each area?

2. How many bulk terminals are associated with this facility?

Follow-up:

• Do they all belong to XXXXXX

• If not, whose are they?

If more than one:

• Are the terminal grounds adjacent?

• If not adjacent, how do you define the boundaries of each bulk terminal?

• Geography

• Political boundaries

• Property ownership

• Lease agreements

• Business relationship

• Something else

2a. Does this terminal have a close operational connection to another facility such as another terminal, refinery, fractionator, or pipeline?

Follow-ups:

• Is the other facility physically adjacent to the terminal (e.g. separated only by a fence-line or road)?

• Is the other facility separated by land that is not directly associated with either facility?

• If there is an operational relationship between the terminal and another facility?

If there answer is yes, ask “describe the operational relationship.”

• Do you consider the connected facilities to be one or multiple sites for purposes of EIA reporting?

3. Do you receive petroleum products by tanker, barge, or pipeline?

If yes: How do you move product from the terminal to another location?

Probes:

• Tanker?

• Barge?

• Pipeline?

• Rail?

• If there is more than one terminal: how do you move from each terminal?

3a. Once the product is in the (tanker, barge, pipeline, rail), where does it go next?

• Does the terminal have retail tank farms?

• Once the product is in the tank farm, where does it go next?

• Does the product ever go from the tank farm directly to the final consumer whether that’s a plane, truck, or cars?

4. Does the facility have retail tank farms where the product goes directly to end users such as planes, trucks, autos?

Follow-up: Who are the end-users?

5. What activities occur at this facility?

Follow-up: Does this facility have:

• Storage?

• Marketing?

• Blending?

• Refining?

• Rack sales?

Storage:

1. What is the shell storage capacity of this terminal?

Follow-ups:

• Is the storage for exclusive use of the company?

• Does the terminal have leased storage

• Some other arrangement(s)

2. Do you have storage capacity and/or stocks at your terminal that you believe should be excluded from EIA reporting? 

Follow-up: If yes, on what basis do you believe the storage capacity and/or stocks should be excluded from EIA reporting (e.g. retail tanks that you believe are out of scope for primary distribution system reporting)?

3. Do you have storage capacity at this terminal that you are unable to report to EIA?

Follow-up: If yes, ask “what is reason?”

Probe: Is it because of a lease agreement or other operational or business arrangement in which another company controls operations of the storage capacity and does not share inventory levels and other data necessary for reporting on EIA survey forms? 

Follow-up: If yes, do you know if the other company reports to EIA?

Blending:

1. Does blending occur in this facility?

Follow-up: What products?

2. How does the facility blend it fuels?

2. Where does the blending occur in this facility?

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