A producer may request a written explanation about gas losses, and the gas gatherer/transporter must respond within 30 days. If the response is inadequate or missing, the producer may file an informal complaint, and the gatherer/transporter must provide an accounting within 14 days of the complaint unless extended to a maximum of 45 days. The producer may also audit related books and records, but not more than once a year.
Sec. 85.065. INFORMAL COMPLAINT PROCESS REGARDING LOSS OF OR INABILITY TO ACCOUNT FOR NATURAL GAS GATHERED OR TRANSPORTED. (a) A producer may submit a written request to a person who gathers or transports gas for the producer for an explanation of any loss of or inability to account for the gas tendered to the person by the producer. The request may ask the person to provide any or all of the information that would be required to be included in an accounting under Subsection (c). Not later than the 30th day after the date the person receives the request from the producer, the person must provide the producer a written explanation of any loss of or inability to account for the gas tendered to the person by the producer. The response must include any relevant information requested by the producer that is available to the person and that would be required to be included in an accounting under Subsection (c). (b) If a producer submits a request under Subsection (a) to a person who gathers or transports gas for the producer and the person provides an inadequate explanation of any loss of or inability to account for the gas, or fails to provide any explanation of any loss of or inability to account for the gas by the deadline provided by that subsection, the producer may file with the commission an informal complaint against the person. An informal complaint may not be filed before the 30th day after the end of the production period covered by the complaint. An informal complaint must: (1) specify the production period covered by the complaint; (2) state that at least 30 days have elapsed since the end of the production period covered by the complaint; and (3) if the producer metered the volume of gas tendered to the person who gathered or transported the gas: (A) describe the type of meter used; and (B) state the date the meter was last calibrated. (c) Not later than the 14th day after the date the complaint is filed, the person who gathered or transported the gas shall provide to the producer and the commission an accounting of the gas tendered to the person by the producer for gathering or transport during the production period covered by the complaint. The accounting may be provided on a thousand cubic feet or a million British thermal unit basis, as applicable, and must include the information the commission determines to be necessary to resolve an informal complaint under this section, which may include: (1) the amount of gas tendered by the producer from each well that has a meter; (2) a laboratory analysis of the composition and heating value of the gas and other substances tendered by the producer, if such an analysis has been performed; (3) if available, a schematic drawing of the person's system for gathering or transporting gas that shows: (A) each meter type; (B) the date each meter was last calibrated; (C) the accuracy of each meter; and (D) all equipment that alters, disposes of, or otherwise consumes any of the gas tendered to the person; (4) the estimated amount of gas used for fuel, flared, or vented for construction, repair, maintenance, or other operational uses and, if the information is available, the location of that use; (5) the estimated amount of contaminants or other impurities removed from the gas and the location at which the impurities were removed; (6) the estimated amount of liquid hydrocarbons and condensate removed from the gas and the location at which the liquid hydrocarbons and condensate were removed; (7) the estimated amount of gas lost and the location at which the gas was lost; (8) the estimated amount of gas redelivered by the person, including the amount of gas sold that was allocated to the producer, and the location at which the redelivery of the gas occurred; (9) any amount of gas received from the producer by the person that remains unaccounted for; and (10) any other information the person who gathered or transported the gas considers relevant to the resolution of the complaint. (d) The commission may grant an extension of time to the person who gathered or transported the gas to provide the accounting required by Subsection (c). An extension may not permit the accounting to be provided later than the 45th day after the date the informal complaint was filed. (e) If the person who gathered or transported the gas does not have the information necessary to provide the accounting required by Subsection (c), the person must provide to the producer and to the commission a written explanation of the reason the person does not have the information. (f) If the person who gathered or transported the gas fails to provide the accounting required by Subsection (c) or the explanation required by Subsection (e), the informal complaint filed by the producer is considered to be valid. (g) If Subsection (f) applies or the commission determines that the person who gathered or transported the gas committed waste, the commission may take any action it considers appropriate, including issuing an order in a formal proceeding to prevent waste by the person who gathered or transported the gas. (h) This subsection applies only to a producer and a person who gathers or transports gas for the producer under a contract between the producer and that person that is entered into or renewed on or after September 1, 2007. On written request, the producer is entitled to audit the books and records of the person that pertain to the contract between the producer and the person for the purpose of verifying whether any gas tendered to the person by the producer that the person has lost or is unable to account for has been allocated to the volume of gas tendered to the person by the producer as required by the contract. A producer is not entitled to conduct an audit under this subsection more frequently than annually. Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 696 (H.B. 1920), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007. SUBCHAPTER D. MARGINAL WELLS