FERC Form No. 552, Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions (PL20-3)

The FERC Form 552 provides greater transparency concerning the use of indices to price natural gas and how well index prices reflect market forces. Many market participants rely on indices to reference market prices without acquiring the risks of active trading. However, the Commission discovered that there was insufficient information available to the Commission and market participants in order to assess whether the gas indices are derived from a robust market of fixed-price transactions and, thus, accurately reflect market forces. For example, there was no way to determine the volumetric relationships between (a) the fixed-price, next day and next month delivery transactions that form gas price indices; and (b) transactions that use indices. The annual filing of transaction information by market participants is necessary to provide information regarding the size of the physical natural gas market, the use of the natural gas spot markets and the use of fixed- and indexed- price transactions. Without the most basic information about these volumetric relationships, the Commission has been hampered in its oversight and its ability to assess the adequacy of price-forming transactions. Market participants are likewise unable to evaluate their use of indexed transactions. Typically, market participants rely on index-priced transactions as a way to reference market prices without taking on the risks of active trading. These market participants rely on index prices, often whether or not those prices are derived from a robust market of fixed-price transactions.

The latest form for FERC Form No. 552, Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions (PL20-3) expires 2021-11-30 and can be found here.