Oil Pipeline Service Life Data

Form Approved
OMB No. 1902-0019
(Expires 08/31/2020)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING
FERC FORM NO. 73
OIL PIPELINE SERVICE LIFE DATA
Title 18, U.S.C. 1001 makes it a crime for any person knowingly and willingly to make to any
Agency or Department of the United States any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements as to any
matter within its jurisdiction.

The term ‘Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)” refers to the FERC
or its predecessor the Federal Power Commission (FPC)

FERC FORM NO. 73

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20426

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING
FERC Form No. 73
(Form approved: OMB No. 1902-0019, expires 08/31/2020)

OIL PIPELINE SERVICE LIFE DATA

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FERC Form No. 73
Table of Contents

General Information ................................................................................................ 4
General Instructions ............................................................................................... 6
Schedule A1 ─ Specific Instructions… ................................................................. 7
— Sample Schedule A1 .....................................................................8
— Definitions .................................................................................... 9
Schedule S1 ─ Specific Instructions ....................................................................10
— Sample Schedule S1… ................................................................ 11
— Definitions ................................................................................... 12
Appendix

─ Transaction Codes ...................................................................... 13

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING
SERVICE LIFE DATA
GENERAL INFORMATION
I.

PURPOSE
During an investigation of an oil pipeline company’s book depreciation rates, the
Commission requests service life data as a part of its data request. This service
life data, which may be initial data or an update to previously existing data, is
collected on FERC Form No. 73. The information collected on FERC Form No.
73 is used as an input to assist the Commission in the selection of appropriate oil
pipeline company service lives and book depreciation rates.

II.

WHO MUST FILE
Any oil pipeline company who is directed by the Commission to file service life
data during an investigation of the appropriateness of its book depreciation rates.

III.

WHEN TO SUBMIT
Service life data is reported to the Commission by an oil pipeline company only
during a depreciation rate investigation.

IV.

WHAT TO SUBMIT
The Form No. 73 requires that actuarial or simulation service life data be set forth
in a standardized format.
1. If you are not submitting this report in an electronic media format, submit an
original and three (3) copies of this report. An Excel spreadsheet is an
acceptable format.
2. Upon request of the Commission, the company must submit such additional
supporting and clarifying data and information as may be specified.

V.

WHERE TO SUBMIT
1. Submit this report to:
Office of the Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20426
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2. Hand deliveries can be made to:
Health and Human Services,
12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, Maryland 20852

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GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
1. Each reporting company may file either actuarial or simulation service life data. If
a respondent chooses to file actuarial data, Schedule A1 would be filed. If a
respondent chooses to file simulation data, Schedule S1 would be filed. The first
or initial filing of service life data by a pipeline company with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (whether simulation data or actuarial data) should begin
with the first year of company operations or 1940 whichever is later. Subsequent
filings of service life data by a respondent pipeline company may contain the
transaction data only from the year of the last report to the present.
2. Report all dollar items rounded to the nearest dollar. Commas, decimal points,
and special characters should not be used.
3. The “Account Number” as used in this Form No. 73 consists of the three digit
account number specified in the Uniform System of Accounts with a suffix of “P”
for Product Lines, “C” for Crude Lines, or some other character, specified by the
Commission, to designate a system or division of the respondent company. Thus,
an account number for purposes of filing the Form No. 73 consists of four
characters, three digits followed by one alphabetic character.
The Commission may provide additional special instructions for filing the Form
No. 73 requesting a respondent to report service life data in greater detail than
specified in the Uniform System of Accounts. In such instances, the respondent
will add a one letter suffix, specified by the Commission, to the account number.
• for example, a respondent may be asked to report for its Product Line
“Vehicles and Other Work Equipment”, Account 165, by “Vehicles”, with
an account designator, “165PV”, and “Other Work Equipment”, with an
account designator, “165PE”.

SOURCES FOR CODES USED
1. UNIFORM SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS FOR OIL PIPELINE COMPANIES – See
Part 352 – Uniform System of Accounts Prescribed for Oil Pipeline Companies,
Chapter 1 – Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Title 18, “Code of Federal
Regulations”.
2. Transaction Codes – Transaction Codes are listed in the Appendix.

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SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
Service Life Data (Actuarial)
Schedule A1
This schedule is sequenced by Account Number. A new page is started when a
change in account occurs and the account name and account number is displayed as
the top line in the body of the report.
Data for actuarial analysis of property accounts 102-186 is reported by vintage
year from the date of initial operations to the present date. All activity (additions,
retirements, transfers, and balances) is reported by Installation Year, Transaction
Year, Transaction Code, and Ledger Value. Number of units, gross salvage, and cost
of removal should be included where applicable.
Extreme care should be exercised in assigning Transaction Codes to each
transaction in order that the analysis of data will produce meaningful results.
Every vintage year must begin with a Transaction Code “00”, “11”, “12”, “13’,
“30”, or “51”. An entry will be made for each year following the vintage year in
which some activity occurred for this account, (e.g., addition, retirement, etc.) listing
the appropriate Transaction Code for the activity. Every vintage year must terminate
with a Transaction Balance Code, “99”.
In reporting Installation Year, Transaction Year, and Corrected Transaction Year,
no date prior to 1940 is acceptable. For a respondent’s initial report, a 1940
transaction year, “00” Transaction Code, may be used to report the net balance of
property in service as of December 31, 1939. If a respondent commenced operations
after 1940, in the initial filing of the Form No. 73, the respondent should report a
Transaction Code “00” for the net balance of property in service as December 31 of
the year preceding the year of commencement of operations. For a respondent’s
Update Report, each vintage will begin with an initial balance, Transaction Code
“00”, which should correspond to the ending balance, Balance Code “99”, reported on
the previous filing of the Form No. 73.
Installation Year, Transaction Year, Transaction Code, and Ledger Value must be
reported for each transition. Unreported fields should be left blank.
Negative numbers must not be used except when “Corrected Transaction Year”
field is used. If the “Corrected Transaction Year” field is used, Units, Ledger Value,
Gross Salvage Value, and Cost of Removal may be negative as necessary to make
corrections.

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Schedule A1
SERVICE LIFE DATA
(a) Pipeline Company Name
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(f) Account Number: xxxx

(d) From January 1, xxxx (e) to December 31, xxxx
(g) Account Name : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Installation
Year
(h)
xxxx

Corrected
Transaction
Transaction Year
Code
(j )
(k)
xxxx
xx

Transaction
Year
(i)
xxxx

Number of
Units
(l)
xxxxxxxx

Ledger Value
(m)
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

(b) Schedule
A1
(c) Page xxx

Gross
Salvage
(n)
xxxxxxxxxx

Cost of
Removal
(o)
xxxxxxxxxx

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DEFINITIONS OF ITEMS CONTAINED ON SCHEDULE A1
Schedule
Reference
(a)

Item Name

(b)
(c)
(d)

Pipeline Company
Name
Schedule ID
Page Number
Start Date

(e)

End Date

(f)

FERC Account
Number

(g)
(h)

FERC Account
Name
Installation Year

(i)

Transaction Year

(j)

Corrected
Transaction Year

(k)

Transaction Code

(l)
(m)
(n)

Number of Units
Ledger Value
Gross Salvage

(o)

Cost of Removal

Definition--Description
Name of pipeline filing report
Form Number A1
Sequential page numbers as needed.
The beginning year for the service life data reported.
The year will be reported as a four digit number and
will be 1940 or later.
The ending year for the service life data being reported.
The year will be reported as a four digit number.
Uniform System of Accounts number associated with
the service life data reported on this page with
appropriate suffix as specified in the general
instructions.
Uniform System of Accounts name associated with the
service life data reported on this page.
The year the property was first placed in service by the
reporting carrier.
The year of the particular transaction being recorded by
this entry; must be equal to or greater than the
installation year.
For corrections of previous entries only. The year of
the correction is the transaction year. This field is the
year that is being corrected. Appropriate corrections (+
or -) are recorded in the units, ledger value, gross
salvage, and cost of removal fields to properly correct
the erroneous entry. Transaction Codes must be the
same as the entry corrected.
The type of transaction being recorded. (See
Transaction Codes in the Appendix).
Number of physical units associated with a transaction.
Ledger value of property involved in a transaction.
The actual dollars of salvage recovered upon retirement
or disposition of an asset, including insurance proceeds.
Total cost to dispose of property and to restore
environment as required.

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SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
Service Life Data (Simulation)
Schedule S1
This schedule is sequenced by Account Number. A new page is started when a
change in account occurs and the account name and account number is displayed as
the top line in the body of the report.
Data for Simulated Plant Record (SPR) analysis of oil pipeline property accounts
102-186 is reported for each year from the date of initial operation to the present date
using the appropriate “Transaction Codes”.
Extreme care should be exercised in assigning Transaction Codes to each
transaction in order that the analysis of data will produce meaningful results.
In reporting activity for each account, a Transaction Year, Transaction Code and a
Ledger Value must be reported for each transaction activity. A Transaction Year
prior to 1940 is not acceptable. For a respondent’s initial report, a 1940 Transaction
Year, “00” Transaction Code, may be used to report the net balance of property in
service as of December 31, 1939. If a respondent commenced operations after 1940,
in the initial filing of the Form No. 73, the respondent should report a Transaction
Code “00” for the balance of property in service as December 31 of the year
preceding the year of commencement of operations. For respondent’s initial report
with a Transaction Year later than 1940, the net balance of property in service should
be as of December 31 of the preceding year. For a respondent’s Update Report, each
account will begin with an initial balance, Transaction Code “00”, which should
correspond to the ending balance, Transaction Code “99”, reported on the previous
filing of the Form No. 73.
Each account must have a transaction year with a Transaction Code, “99”, which
must equal the balance in the FERC Form No. 6, Annual Report of Oil Pipeline
Companies.
Negative numbers should not be used in any field. Each Transaction Year must
have an applicable transaction installation code or transaction retirement code.

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Schedule S1
SERVICE LIFE DATA
(a) Pipeline Company Name
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(b) Schedule
S1
(c) Page xxxx

(d) From January 1, xxxx
to (e) December 31, xxxx
(f) Account Number: xxxx (g) Account Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Transaction Year
(h)
xxxx

Transaction Code
(i)
xx

Ledger Value
(j)
xxxxxxxxxxxx

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DEFINITIONS OF ITEMS CONTAINED ON SCHEDULE S1
Schedule
Reference
(a)

Item Name

(b)
(c)
(d)

Pipeline Company
Name
Schedule ID
Page Number
Start Date

(e)

End Date

(f)

FERC Account
Number

(g)
(h)

FERC Account
Name
Transaction Year

(i)

Transaction Code

(j)

Ledger Value

Definition--Description
Name of pipeline filing report.
Form Number S1
Sequential page numbers as needed.
The beginning year for the service life data reported.
The year will be reported, as a four digit number and
will be 1940 or later.
The ending year for the service life data being reported.
The year will be reported as a four digit number.
Uniform System of Accounts number associated with
the service life data reported on this page with
appropriate suffix as specified in the general
instructions.
Uniform System of Accounts name associated with the
service life data reported on this page.
The year of the particular transaction being recorded by
this entry; must be equal to or greater than the
installation year.
The type of transaction being recorded. (See
Transaction Codes in the Appendix).
Ledger value of property involved in a transaction.

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Appendix
Definition – This item identifies the acceptable transaction codes which are reported
for each transaction.
Transaction Transaction
Transaction Type--Description
Code
Title
00
Initial Balance Installation--net balance of property in service as of
December 31 of the year prior to the start date (See
Definition of Items for Schedule S1 or A1)
11
New
Installation--placement of property in service. These
12
Second Hand codes distinguish the condition of the property when it is
13
Reconditioned added. A vintage year must begin with one of the
(See code 65) following codes: 00, 11, 12, 13, 30 or 51.
30
Acquisition
Installation--property acquired from another operation
carrier to be continued in the same or similar type of
service. Acquisitions may occur as the result of mergers,
consolidations, pooling of interests, or purchase of another
company or portion thereof.
51
Transfer In
Transfer resulting in an increase of investment in an
account with a concurrent decrease in another depreciable
account with the company or an affiliated company.
Opposite of a Transfer Out.
52
Transfer Out
Transfer--the removal of property from a depreciable
account and concurrent reassignment of that property to
another account in the company or an affiliated company.
The reason for a Transfer Out may be a reclassification or
a change in operations. No salvage entries are allowed for
this code.
61
Regular
Retirement--all retirements which occur in the course of
normal operations for any cause other than those listed
herein.
62
Reimbursed
Retirement--a retirement of property for which the
company is compensated fully at the time of retirement
through insurance or by public authority as a result of
negotiations.
63
Sale
Retirement--a retirement in which “going concern”
property is sold for reuse to another organization for
continuation of service. Sales at the end of life or because
the property is no longer useful for normal transportation
purposes are Regular Retirements (Code 61).

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Definition – This item identifies the acceptable transaction codes which are reported
for each transaction.
Transaction Transaction
Transaction Type--Description
Code
Title
64
Outlier
Retirement--a retirement which reflects a highly
improbable occurrence should be classified as an outlier if
the situation under which the retirement occurred can be
documented as being exceptionally unusual.
65
Reconditioned Retirement--retirement for the purpose of reconditioning
the asset for further transportation service when the
reconditioning is performed by the company or an
affiliated company. The property is reentered into service
coded 13 (Reconditioned).
81
+ Adjustment Adjustment--adjustment codes should be used only with
FERC approval. Entries to correct past errors or
82
- Adjustment
omissions are not considered to be adjustments and should
be corrected by use of the “Corrected Transaction Year”
field.
99
Balance
Balance--balance in service as of December 31 of the End
Date (See Definitions of Items for Schedule A1 or S1).
No salvage entries are permitted for this code.

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