Statementh Other Factors Affecting the Competitiveness of the Markets Served by the Reversed Seaway Pipeline
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20111202-5190 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 12/2/2011 4:46:13 PM STATEMENTH OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE MARKETS SERVED BY THE REVERSED SEAWAY PIPELINE 20111202-5190 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 12/2/2011 4:46:13 PM TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR STATEMENT H Section I. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 II. The U.S. Department of Justice's Analysis of the U.S. Crude Oil Pipeline Industry .......................................................................................................................... 2 Ill. The Reversed Seaway Pipeline Is a New Entrant Pipeline ............................................ 3 IV. The Availability of Unutilized Capacity Held By the Reversed Seaway Pipeline's Competitors ................................................................................................... 5 V. Crude Oil Exchanges and Trading ................... :: ............................................................ 6 VI. The Reversed Seaway Pipeline's Potential Shippers are Experienced and Knowledgeable Oil Industry Participants .... ~ ............................................................ 7 / "-· H-i 20111202-5190 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 12/2/2011 4:46:13 PM c STATEMENTH OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE MARKETS SERVED BY THE REVERSED SEAWAY PIPELINE I. Introduction_., 1 In addition to the existing competitive alternatives discussed in Statement D and 2 the potential new entrants discussed in Statement E, there are numerous other factors 3 to consider that affect the competitiveness of the Reversed Seaway Pipeline. First, 4 when the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") evaluated the competitiveness of U.S. 5 crude oil pipelines, it concluded, for various reasons, that alllower-48 crude oil pipelines 6 could be safely deregulated which also implies that all these crude oil pipelines could be 7 safely allowed to change market-based rates. 1 Second, the Reversed Seaway Pipeline ( "--··· 8 is a new entrant in terms of providing a new outlet in its origin market and a new 9 supplier to its destination market. The Reversed Seaway Pipeline is expected to begin 10 operating by the second quarter of 2012, but it is not expected to reach its full 375 MBD 11 capacity until early 2013. A new entrant, such as the Reversed Seaway Pipeline, 12 provides shippers in both its origin and destination markets with an additional option 13 which, by definition, will make the Reversed Seaway Pipeline's origin and destination 14 markets more competitive. Third, there is unutilized pipeline capacity in the Reversed 15 Seaway Pipeline's origin and destination markets, and, in the Reversed Seaway 16 Pipeline's destination market, there is unutilized dock capacity that would support 17 increased waterborne deliveries of crude oil. The pro-competitive effects of this OIL PIPELINE DEREGULATION, REPORT OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, May 1986 (hereinafter "DOJ DEREGULATION STUDY'). H -1 20111202-5190 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 12/2/2011 4:46:13 PM 1 unutilized capacity are discussed in Statements E and G, and the data underlying the 2 calculation of the amount of unutilized capacity is presented in Statement D. Fourth, 3 crude oil exchanges and other forms of crude oil trading allows potential shippers on the 4 Reversed Seaway Pipeline in both its origin and destination markets to use all of the 5 Reversed Seaway Pipeline's competitors. Fifth, all of the Reversed Seaway Pipeline's 6 potential shippers are experienced and knowledgeable oil industry participants, which 7 implies that these shippers would have knowledge of and access to all of the 8 competitive options identified here. These five pro-competitive factors are discussed in 9 more detail below. ·· II. The U.S. Department of Justice's Analysis of the U.S. Crude Oil Pipeline Industry 10 The competitiveness of the markets served by crude oil pipelines was evaluated ( ( 11 by the DOJ in the DOJ Deregulation Study. The DOJ Study's purpose was to determine 12 whether individual oil pipeline companies faced sufficient competition in all the markets 13 they served to completely deregulate these oil pipeline companies. This is a much 14 greater lessening of regulatory constraints than would occur if a pipeline were allowed to 15 charge market-based rates subject to ongoing Commission oversight. The DOJ study 16 reached the following conclusion regarding crude oil pipelines: "The Department 17 recommends that all existing crude oil pipelines [excluding the Trans Alaska Pipeline 2 18 System] be deregulated." The DOJ elaborated on the 19 2 DOJ DEREGULATION STUDY at 62. ( ( H-2 20111202-5190 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 12/2/2011 4:46:13 PM 1 reasons why it concluded that all the existing lower-48 crude oil pipelines could be 2 safely deregulated as follows: 3 The Department has not identified any crude pipeline that presents a clear 4 case for continued federal regulations. In addition, there are theoretical s considerations that tend to lessen the need for the continued federal 6 regulation of crude pipelines. Crude production and crude refining are 7 activities that feature fewer participants and larger investments than those 8 in product marketing. Thus, crude origin and destination markets are 9 more likely to exhibit characteristics that either mitigate the exercise of 10 market power or undercut the effectiveness of regulation. These 11 characteristics, which include vertical integration, bilateral exchange, and 12 bottlenecks elsewhere in the vertical supply chain, weaken the justification 13 for continued federal regulation of crude oil pipelines. 3 Ill. The Reversed Seaway Pipeline Is a New Entrant Pipeline. 14 The Reversed Seaway Pipeline is a new entrant with service expected to begin :s during the second quarter of 2012 with a capacity of 150 MBD, and, by early 2013, its ( __ 16 capacity will be increased to 375 MBD. The fact that the Reversed Seaway Pipeline is a 17 new entrant should be a sufficient reason to grant it the authority to charge market- 18 based rates. The Reversed Seaway Pipeline's potential shippers have existing 19 alternative means of transporting crude oil from the Reversed Seaway Pipeline's origin 20 market and/or supplying crude oil to the Reversed Seaway Pipeline's destination 21 market; namely, the means of transport they are now using before the Reversed 22 Seaway Pipeline begins service potentially during the second quarter of 2012. The 23 Reversed Seaway Pipeline has to offer a more attractive option to its shippers to get 24 them to use the Reversed Seaway Pipeline instead of whatever means these shippers 25 are currently using. 3 /d. at 62-64. H-3 20111202-5190 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 12/2/2011 4:46:13 PM ;.-- In its 1986 DOJ Deregulation Study, the DOJ concluded that a new oil pipeline, ( (~ / 2 such as the Reversed Seaway Pipeline, could be safely deregulated independent of the 3 extent of competition that existed in the market that it served.4 Granting the Reversed 4 Seaway Pipeline the authority to charge market-based rates gives it much less 5 autonomy than it would have under complete deregulation, because the Commission 6 would continue to exercise regulatory authority over the Reversed Seaway Pipeline and 7 maintain the ability to rescind market-based rates if necessary. Therefore, there is 8 much less risk involved in granting the Reversed Seaway Pipeline market-based rate 9 authority than would be involved in deregulation. 10 The DOJ further concluded that "no newly built oil pipeline be federally regulated 11 because regulation is not needed in order to prevent economically inefficient behavior / 12 by new oil pipelines."5 While the DOJ concluded that neither new crude oil pipelines nor ( ( \ 13 new product pipelines should be federally regulated, it concluded that the reasons for 14 not regulating new crude oil pipelines were stronger because "the regulation of new 15 crude pipelines in particular can impose significant and costly resource allocation 16 distortions."6 Therefore, the DOJ Study's conclusions would support the deregulation of 17 all the crude oil pipelines, and all new entrant oil pipelines, and, thereby, also supports 18 the FERC granting the Reversed Seaway Pipeline the authority to charge market-based 19 rates since it is both a crude oil pipeline and a new entrant pipeline. 4 /d. at 143-44. 5 /d. at 143. 6 /d. at xv. H-4 20111202-5190 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 12/2/2011 4:46:13 PM c·- IV. The Availability of Unutilized Capacity Held By the Reversed Seaway "- Pipeline's Competitors 1 The amount of excess (unused) capacity held by the Reversed Seaway 2 Pipeline's competitors in both its origin and destination markets is analyzed in 3 Statement G, Tables G.3 and G.7 for the Gulf Coast Destination Market and Table G.16 4 for the Cushing Origin Market. For the Houston to Lake Charles Area definition of the 5 Gulf Coast Destination Market, the excess capacity held by others is 5. 78 times the 6 estimated deliveries by the Reversed Seaway Pipeline. For the Cushing Origin Market, 7 the excess capacity held by others is 4.45 times the estimated receipts by the Reversed 8 Seaway Pipeline when the market size is measured by local crude oil production only, 9 and 1.34 times the estimated receipts by the Reversed Seaway Pipeline when the ( -- 10 market size is measured by local crude oil production plus deliveries of crude oil to the origin market from remote production areas. 7 In both its destination and origin markets, ""---- 11 12 the excess capacity held by the Reversed Seaway Pipeline's competitors is more than 13 sufficient to replace all of the Reversed Seaway Pipeline's deliveries to its destination 14 market or its receipts in its origin market. 15 Regarding the excess capacity at the Gulf Coast dock facilities, the data needed 16 to calculate the amount of calculate the amount of unutilized dock facility capacity is 17 produced in Statement Din Tables D.8 and D.9. Table H.1. below presents a 18 7 Since the Reversed Seaway Pipeline is not yet operating, its receipts are estimated to be 90% of its 375 MBD capacity which equals 337.5 MBD.