EIA-191 Instructions

U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585

Form Approved
OMB No. 1905-0175
Expiration Date: 06/30/2024
Burden: 2.6 hours

EIA-191
MONTHLY NATURAL GAS STORAGE REPORT
YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW
This report is mandatory under Title 15 U.S.C. §772(b). Failure to comply may result in criminal fines, civil penalties and other
sanctions as provided by Title 15 U.S.C. §797. Title 18 U.S.C. §1001 makes it a criminal offense 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 Form EIA-191 must be completed by all companies that operate underground natural gas storage fields or liquefied natural
gas (LNG) storage facilities in the United States. Operators of LNG storage facilities must complete the Form EIA-191L Monthly
Liquefied Natural Gas Storage Report.

PURPOSE
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form EIA-191 Monthly Natural Gas Storage Report provides data on the
operations of all active storage facilities. The data appear in the EIA publications Monthly Energy Review, Natural Gas Annual,
and Natural Gas Monthly.

RESPONSE DUE DATE
The Form EIA-191 must be filed within 20 days after the last day of the report month. You must file twelve reports per calendar
year. If additional fields are acquired, or storage activities begin in a new facility during the year, you must enter their field
characteristics for the month when initial activity began.

HOW TO FILE A RESPONSE
To facilitate the processing of data, the use of EIA forms is required. The form can be downloaded in XLS format on the EIA
website, which can be accessed from http://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-191.
Respondents must use the EIA’s Secure File Transfer system to submit their data. With this Internet-based option, EIA uses
security protocols to protect the information against unauthorized access during transmission. EIA does not accept email, fax,
or paper forms.
Data Submission Method (see next page for step-by-step instructions)
By Secure File Transfer: https://signon.eia.doe.gov/upload/noticeoog.jsp

QUESTIONS
Please contact the EIA Survey Support Team using the following communication methods:
By email:
By phone:

[email protected]
1-855-EIA-4USA (1-855-342-4872) [Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM E.T.]

EIA-191 Monthly Natural Gas Storage Report

U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585

Form Approved
OMB No. 1905-0175
Expiration Date: 06/30/2024
Burden: 2.6 hours

HOW TO USE EIA’S SECURE FILE TRANSFER
EIA is ensuring the security of your transactions by using the latest Internet security technology. The technology being used to
protect your data is encryption which is the scrambling of data into a code that is unreadable to anyone who does not have the
key that deciphers it. The secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) is a communications protocol designed to transfer this
encrypted information between computers over the internet. All information is protected by 128-bit encryption to maintain the
privacy and confidentiality of your data. The only thing you need to take advantage of strong encryption technology is a secure
browser, one that supports 128-bit encryption.
1.

Go to the EIA Secure File Transfer system located at https://signon.eia.doe.gov/upload/noticeoog.jsp

2.

Read the Agreement and then click the Accept button.

3.

Enter your name, company name, phone number and email address into the boxes provided. Note that the email
address is required so that we can send you a confirmation of the receipt of your data.

4.

Click on the Choose Files button to navigate to your saved Excel file submission. Select the file to upload and click on
the Open button.

5.

If you are ready to submit your file, click on the green Submit File(s) button. Please be patient, it may take a few
minutes to upload your file. Do not close your browser during this upload. A confirmation page will be displayed with
a Submission Successful banner and indicate the names of the files you have transferred, a confirmation number and
the date and time of the transfer.

SANCTIONS
The timely submission of Form EIA-191 by those required to report is mandatory under 15 USC 772(b), as amended. Failure to
respond may result in a civil penalty of not more than $12,937 each day for each violation. The government may bring a civil
action to prohibit reporting violations which may result in a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent
injunction without bond. In such civil action, the court may also issue mandatory injunctions commanding any person to comply
with these reporting requirements.

REPORTING BURDEN
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 2.6 hours per response, including time for
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining data needed, and completing and reviewing
the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of
information including suggestions for reducing this burden to: Energy Information Administration, Statistical Methods and
Research, EI-21, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585; and to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
Information collected in Part 3, as well as Base Gas data in Part 4, on Form EIA-191 is considered public information, and may be
publicly released in company or individually identifiable form. Information collected in Parts 1 and 4 (including Working Gas and
Total Gas in Storage data but excluding Base Gas), however, will be protected and will not be disclosed to the public to the
extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552, the DOE
regulations, 10 C.F.R. §1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. §1905.
The Federal Energy Administration Act requires EIA to provide company-specific data to other federal agencies when requested
for official use. The information you reported on this form may also be made available, upon request, to another component of
the Department of Energy (DOE); to any Committee of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, or other federal
agencies authorized by law to receive such information. A court of competent jurisdiction may obtain this information in
EIA-191 Monthly Natural Gas Storage Report

U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585

Form Approved
OMB No. 1905-0175
Expiration Date: 06/30/2024
Burden: 2.6 hours

response to an order. The information may be used for any nonstatistical purposes such as administrative, regulatory, law
enforcement, or adjudicatory purposes.
Disclosure limitation procedures do not apply to the statistical data published from EIA-191 survey information. Some statistics
may be based on data from fewer than three respondents or may be dominated by data from one or two large respondents. In
these cases, a knowledgeable person may be able to closely estimate the information a specific respondent reported.

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
Report all volumes in thousand cubic feet (Mcf). Do not report any negative values on any part of the Form EIA-191.
Provide data for all fields your company operates. You may copy additional forms or download additional electronic files when
submitting data for more than two fields.
Reporting of preliminary or estimated data is allowable, if necessary, to meet the due date. You only have to file a revised
report is required if actual or corrected data vary more than plus or minus 4% from the data previously reported.

PART 1: RESPONDENT IDENTIFICATION DATA
Provide up-to-date company information.
EIA ID number: Enter the 10-digit EIA ID number. Companies operating in more than one State should note that a unique number
has been assigned for operations in each state. If we haven’t assigned an ID number to you, leave the space blank and contact us
at 1-855-EIA-4USA (1-855-342-4872).
Resubmission: Check the box if the report is a revised report. If the report is an original, leave this space blank.
Company name: Enter the company name.
Contact information: Enter the current contact information.

PART 2: SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Submission - Refer to the “How to File a Response” section for more details or method for submitting data.

PART 3: FIELD CHARACTERISTICS
Report all volumes in thousand cubic feet (Mcf), 14.73 psia-60o F, as of 9:00 a.m., Central Standard Time (CST) on the last day of
the report month. Note that LNG storage facilities complete form EIA-191L, and do not complete data items that are grayed out.
For Type of facility, check the appropriate box corresponding to one of the following: depleted gas field, aquifer, or salt facility.
Salt facilities include both bedded and domal salt facilities. LNG facilities do not complete this item on the EIA-191L.
For Field status, check the appropriate box for either active or inactive. A facility is “inactive” if it has not had any injections for
at least the twelve months prior to this report month, and does not contain volumes of working gas, or is in the process of
abandonment or depletion. If “inactive,” provide additional information in the comments section about the circumstances.

EIA-191 Monthly Natural Gas Storage Report

U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585

Form Approved
OMB No. 1905-0175
Expiration Date: 06/30/2024
Burden: 2.6 hours

PART 4: MONTHLY GAS STORAGE
You must provide information for your fields or facilities as defined below in the Definitions.
Report all volumes in thousand cubic feet (Mcf), 14.73 psia-60o F, as of 9:00 a.m. CST on the last day of the report month.
In most cases, net injections or withdrawals should correspond to the difference between total gas volume for the current and
prior report period. Include storage compressor use volumes with the injections and withdrawals totals.
Comments: Use the comment space to describe any unusual or substantially different aspects of your monthly operations that
affect the data you reported.

DEFINITIONS
Base (cushion) gas: The volume of gas needed to maintain adequate reservoir pressures and deliverability rates throughout the
withdrawal season. Base gas usually is not withdrawn and remains in the reservoir. All native gas is included in the base gas
volume.
Injections: The volume of gas injected into storage facility or reservoir during the report month.
Maximum Deliverability: The maximum rate (Mcf/day) natural gas can be withdrawn (or delivered) from a storage facility when
filled to maximum capacity.
Total Gas in Storage: The sum of base gas plus working gas. For LNG facilities, the total volume of liquefied natural gas held in
aboveground storage tanks.
Total Storage Field Capacity: The maximum volume of natural gas (including base gas and working gas) that you can store in an
underground storage facility based on its design specifications, the physical characteristics of the reservoir, installed
compression equipment, and operating procedures particular to the site.
Withdrawals: The volume of gas withdrawn from storage reservoirs or facilities during the report month.
Working (top storage) gas: The volume of natural gas in an underground storage facility available to be withdrawn, not
including base gas. Working gas may or may not be completely withdrawn during any particular withdrawal season.

EIA-191 Monthly Natural Gas Storage Report