TUBRIDGI PIPELINE SYSTEM
ACCESS ARRANGEMENT
Tubridgi Parties
SAGASCO South East Inc (ARBN: 002 382 023)
Boral Energy Petroleum Pty Ltd (ACN: 010 728 962)
Boral Energy Amadeus NL (ACN: 010 137 121)
Pan Pacific Petroleum NL (ACN: 000 749 799)
Tubridgi Petroleum Pty Ltd (ACN: 076 850 881)
Submitted to the
Gas Access Regulator
Office of Gas Access Regulation, Western Australia
21 October 1999
Tubridgi Pipeline System
Access Arrangement 21 October 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1.Purpose of this Document
1.2.Commencement Date
1.3.Interpretation
1.4.Contact Details
2.SERVICES POLICY
2.1.Services
2.2.Haulage Reference Service
2.3.Negotiated Service
2.4.Request for Services
2.5.Excluded Services
2.6.Pipeline Service Standards
3.REFERENCE TARIFFS AND REFERENCE TARIFF POLICY
3.1.Reference Tariffs
3.2.Reference Tariff Policy
3.2.1.Reference Tariff Adjustments
3.2.2.New Facilities Investment
3.2.3.Incentive Mechanisms
3.2.4.Tariff Schedules
3.2.5.Rebate of Revenue from Negotiated Services
4.TERMS AND CONDITIONS
4.1.Haulage Reference Service
4.2.Negotiated Services
4.3.Pre-conditions to Pipeline Services
4.4.Credit Policy
4.5.Gas Balancing
4.6.Pre-existing Rights
4.7.Section 2.25, National Third Party Access Code
5.CAPACITY MANAGEMENT POLICY
6.TRADING POLICY
6.1.Bare Transfers
6.2.Other Transfers
6.3.Changes of User Delivery and User Receipt Points
6.4.Procedure
7.QUEUING POLICY
7.1.Formation of Queue
7.2.Order of Priority
7.3.Offers of Spare Capacity
7.4.Queuing Information
7.5.Developing Capacity Options
8.EXTENSIONS and EXPANSIONS POLICY
8.1.Coverage
8.2.Tariffs
8.2.1.Effect on Haulage Reference Tariffs
8.2.2.Relationship to Reference Tariff Policy
9.REVIEW OF THE ACCESS ARRANGEMENT
9.1.Revisions Submission Date
9.2.Revisions Commencement Date
9.3.Trigger Event
10.GLOSSARY
ANNEXURE AMap of the TUBRIDGI Pipeline SYSTEM
aNNEXURE bterms and conditions
ANNEXURE ctariff schedule
DISCLAIMER
This document has been prepared solely for the purpose of compliance with the Gas Pipelines Access (Western Australia) Act 1998 and the National Third Party Access Code for Natural Gas Pipeline Systems.
This document is not intended for any other purpose and should not be relied upon as the basis for any decision to transport or retail gas through the Tubridgi Pipeline System or to buy or sell, or otherwise deal in, securities of any of the Tubridgi Parties, or for any other purpose.
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Tubridgi Pipeline System
Access Arrangement 21 October 1999
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1. Purpose of this Document
This Access Arrangement is submitted by the Tubridgi Parties to the Gas Access Regulator, the Western Australian Office of Gas Access Regulation (‘the Regulator’), in accordance with section 2 of the National Third Party Access Code for Natural Gas Pipeline Systems (‘the Code’).
This Access Arrangement applies to the Tubridgi Pipeline System, which is comprised of the Tubridgi Pipeline (WA PL16) and the Griffin Pipeline (WA PL19). These two pipelines both start at the Tubridgi Gas Plant, 25 kilometres south of Onslow, and end at Compressor Station No.2 (CS2) on Epic Energy’s Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP).
A map illustrating the route of the Tubridgi Pipeline and Griffin Pipeline is included as Annexure A to this Access Arrangement. Further information about the Tubridgi Pipeline System is included in the Access Arrangement Information.
Details of the terms and conditions which will apply in relation to third party access to the Tubridgi Pipeline System are set out in Annexure B of this Access Arrangement.
Access Arrangement Information relating to this Access Arrangement has been submitted to the Regulator in accordance with section 2 of the Code.
1.2. Commencement Date
This Access Arrangement will come into effect on the date on which its approval takes effect under section 2 of the Code.
1.3. Interpretation
Section 10 of this Access Arrangement is a glossary, which sets out the definitions given to some terms used in this Access Arrangement.
Terms which are defined in the Code or in this Access Arrangement commence with capital letters. Unless otherwise defined in this Access Arrangement, terms used have the same meaning as they have in the Code. Unless specified otherwise, references to section numbers are references to sections in this Access Arrangement.
1.4. Contact Details
The contact person for further details in relation to this Access Arrangement and the accompanying Access Arrangement Information is:
Tim Scholefield
Manager, Oil & Gas Production (WA)
Boral Energy Resources Limited
34 Colin Street
WEST PERTH WA 6005
Telephone: (08) 9324 6111
Facsimile: (08) 9321 5457
Email:
2.SERVICES POLICY
2.1. Services
The Tubridgi Parties offer the following Pipeline Services to Pipeline Users and Prospective Pipeline Users:
- the Haulage Reference Service; and
- Negotiated Services.
To the extent practicable and reasonable, a Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User may obtain a Pipeline Service which includes only those elements that the Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User wishes to be included in the Pipeline Service.
To the extent practicable and reasonable, the Tubridgi Parties will provide a separate Tariff for an element of a Pipeline Service if requested to do so by a Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User.
2.2. Haulage Reference Service
The Haulage Reference Service comprises:
- accepting a quantity of Gas at a Transmission Receipt Point;
- the physical forward haulage of Gas from that Transmission Receipt Point to a Transmission Delivery Point;
- the delivery of an equivalent quantity of Gas at a Transmission Delivery Point;
- the provision and maintenance of Metering Equipment at Transmission Delivery Points; and
- readings of Metering Equipment at Transmission Receipt Points once each Pipeline Day, with readings provided to Pipeline Users on a monthly basis,
on, and subject to, the terms and conditions referred to in section 4.1 and Annexure B of this Access Arrangement.
The Haulage Reference Service does not include any of the Services that are Negotiated Services.
2.3. Negotiated Service
Any Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User may request the Tubridgi Parties to provide a Negotiated Service. A Negotiated Service is a Pipeline Service that is different from the Haulage Reference Service.
The terms and conditions on which the Tubridgi Parties will provide a Negotiated Service will be the same as the terms and conditions referred to in section 4, where the Tubridgi Parties determine that those terms and conditions are appropriate and applicable to the Negotiated Service requested by the Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User.
Negotiated Services are Rebatable Services.
2.4. Request for Services
A request for Pipeline Services (a ‘Request’) must be made to the Tubridgi Operator. As at the date of this Access Arrangement, the contact details for the Tubridgi Operator are the details set out in section 1.4.
A Request must be submitted on the official application form endorsed by the Tubridgi Parties and must include all relevant information required by the Tubridgi Parties to consider that Request. Copies of that application form are available on application to the Tubridgi Operator. An application fee of $1,000 will be charged and is payable when lodging the application form with the Tubridgi Operator.
2.5. Excluded Services
Pipeline Users and Prospective Pipeline Users should note that the Code only requires the Tubridgi Parties to provide Services (as defined in the Code). Those Services do not include the production, sale or purchasing of Gas, the processing of Gas through the Tubridgi Gas Plant or the storage of Gas in the Tubridgi gas field. The Tubridgi Parties have no obligations under the Code to provide these excluded services and nothing in this Access Arrangement will impose any obligations on the Tubridgi Parties to provide these excluded services.
2.6. Pipeline Service Standards
The Tubridgi Parties will provide each Pipeline Service, including the Haulage Reference Service, in accordance with and subject to the requirements of any Pipeline Licence or applicable law.
3.REFERENCE TARIFFS AND REFERENCE TARIFF POLICY
3.1. Reference Tariffs
The Reference Tariff for the Haulage Reference Service will be set out in the Tariff Schedule from time to time. The initial Tariff Schedule forms Annexure C to this Access Arrangement.
The Reference Tariff set out in Annexure C is that which will apply from 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2000. The Reference Tariff will be adjusted with effect from 1 July each year in accordance with the adjustment mechanism in section 3.2.1.
The Reference Tariff set out in Annexure C does not include GST (as defined in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999).
3.2. Reference Tariff Policy
In this section 3.2, unless stated otherwise, a reference to the percentage change in the CPI is a reference to the percentage change between the March quarter CPI in the then current year and the March quarter CPI in the previous year.
3.2.1.Reference Tariff Adjustments
The Reference Tariff will change each year by the percentage change in the CPI.
3.2.2.New Facilities Investment
The Reference Tariff for the Haulage Reference Service will vary in accordance with the Extensions and Expansions Policy set out in section 8.
Where only part of any New Facilities Investment that is included as part of the Tubridgi Pipeline System satisfies section 8.16 of the Code, then:
- the Capital Base will be increased by that part of the New Facilities Investment that satisfies section 8.16 (the ‘Recoverable Portion’); and
- Reference Tariffs for that part of the New Facilities Investment that satisfies section 8.16 of the Code will be determined in accordance with section 8.2 of this Access Arrangement.
Where part or all of any New Facilities Investment that is included as part of the Tubridgi Pipeline System does not satisfy the requirements of section 8.16 of the Code, the Tubridgi Parties may apply to the Regulator to impose a Surcharge or seek a Capital Contribution in relation to that New Facilities Investment in accordance with section 8 of the Code.
3.2.3.Incentive Mechanisms
The following Incentive Mechanisms apply to this Access Arrangement.
3.2.3.1.No Adjustments to Total Revenue within the Access Arrangement Period
Within any Access Arrangement Period there will be no adjustment to the Total Revenue requirement or Reference Tariffs to reflect any differences between actual and forecast amounts for Non-Capital Costs and revenue (other than as permitted by the terms of any contract between the Tubridgi Parties and any Pipeline User).
The Total Revenue requirement for any future Access Arrangement Period will not be adjusted to recover the amount of any gains or provide compensation for any losses achieved by the Tubridgi Parties as a result of any differences between actual and forecast amounts for Non-Capital Costs and revenue.
The application of this Incentive Mechanism is subject to the Tubridgi Parties continuing to manage and operate the Tubridgi Pipeline System in accordance with accepted industry practice.
This element of the Reference Tariff Policy is a Fixed Principle.
3.2.3.2.Glide Path
Any reductions in Non-Capital Costs that are achieved within an Access Arrangement Period by the Tubridgi Parties will be carried through to the subsequent Access Arrangement Period and reflected in the Total Revenue requirement through the application of a glide path that shares the reductions with Pipeline Users over the whole of the subsequent Access Arrangement Period.
The application of this Incentive Mechanism is subject to the Tubridgi Parties continuing to manage and operate the Tubridgi Pipeline System in accordance with accepted industry practice.
This element of the Reference Tariff Policy is a Fixed Principle.
3.2.4.Tariff Schedules
Whenever the Tubridgi Parties wish to adjust or modify the Reference Tariff in accordance with this Access Arrangement, they will send a revised Tariff Schedule to:
(a)each Pipeline User;
(b)each Prospective Pipeline User whose name appears in the queue established pursuant to section 7 of this Access Arrangement;
(c)any person who, during the preceding six months, requested a copy of the Information Package maintained by the Tubridgi Parties in relation to the Tubridgi Pipeline System pursuant to the Code; and
(d)the Regulator.
A copy of the revised Tariff Schedule will also be included in the Information Package whilst that revised Tariff Schedule remains in effect.
Each revised Tariff Schedule will specify the period during which it is to be in effect and will be effective as the Tariff Schedule during and after that period, unless another revised Tariff Schedule comes into effect pursuant to this Access Arrangement.
3.2.5.Rebate of Revenue from Negotiated Services
The amount of revenue received in a financial year from the provision of Negotiated Services in excess of $350,000 will be shared equally between the Tubridgi Parties and the Pipeline Users of the Reference Service. This rebate will only apply where the Tubridgi Parties receive, in that financial year, the following amounts of revenue from the provision of the Haulage Reference Services:
99/00$m / 00/01
$m / 01/02
$m / 02/03
$m / 03/04
$m
Total Revenue (escalated) / 6.102 / 5.598 / 3.398 / 1.551 / 0.633
Table 1:Total Revenue from Haulage Reference Services
Revenue will be rebated to Pipeline Users of the Reference Service in the form of a reduction in bills from the second month (and if necessary, any subsequent months) of the subsequent financial year. The amount exceeding $350,000 will be rebated between Pipeline Users of the Reference Service according to the volume of Gas transported on behalf of the Pipeline User in the preceding financial year, as a proportion of the total Quantity of Gas transported on behalf of all Pipeline Users receiving the Reference Service.
4.TERMS AND CONDITIONS
4.1. Haulage Reference Service
The Haulage Reference Service will be provided to Pipeline Users on and subject to the terms of an Agreement which will comprise:
(a)the terms and conditions set out in Annexure B; and
(b)the Specific Terms and Conditions agreed between the Tubridgi Parties and the Pipeline User.
The Specific Terms and Conditions that form part of an Agreement between the Tubridgi Parties and a Pipeline User will comprise:
(a)the details of each Transmission Receipt Point at which Gas is to be delivered to the Tubridgi Parties by or for the account of that Pipeline User pursuant to the Agreement;
(b)the details of each Transmission Delivery Point at which Gas is to be delivered by the Tubridgi Parties to or for the account of that Pipeline User pursuant to the Agreement;
(c)the date on which the Tubridgi Parties are to commence providing Pipeline Services pursuant to the Agreement;
(d)the period for which the Agreement is to remain in force (assuming that it is not terminated earlier in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Annexure B) (which period must be at least 12 months);
(e)(for each User Delivery Point) the maximum Quantity of Gas which the Tubridgi Parties are obliged to deliver to or for the account of the Pipeline User pursuant to the Agreement through that User Delivery Point on any Pipeline Day;
(f)the date on which the Agreement will terminate (assuming it is not terminated earlier in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Annexure B) (which date must be at least 12 months after the date of the Agreement); and
(g)an address and facsimile number for the purposes of the service of notices on the Pipeline User pursuant to the Agreement.
4.2. Negotiated Services
A Negotiated Service is a Pipeline Service that is different from the Haulage Reference Service.
If a Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User requires a Service on terms and conditions that differ in any way to the terms and conditions set out in Annexure B or with Specific Terms and Conditions that do not correspond with the Specific Terms and Conditions described in section 4.1, then the Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User requires a Negotiated Service.
The terms and conditions on which the Tubridgi Parties will provide a Negotiated Service will be determined through negotiation between the Tubridgi Parties and the Pipeline User who has requested that Negotiated Service or, in default of agreement, through dispute resolution in accordance with section 6 of the Code.
The terms and conditions on which the Tubridgi Parties will provide a Negotiated Service will be the same as the terms and conditions described in section 4.1 to the extent that the Tubridgi Parties determine that those terms and conditions are appropriate and applicable to the Negotiated Service requested by the Pipeline User or Prospective Pipeline User.
4.3. Pre-conditions to Pipeline Services
A Prospective Pipeline User who requires a Pipeline Service must satisfy a number of pre-conditions before the Tubridgi Parties are required to provide that Pipeline Service or to enter into an Agreement to provide that Pipeline Service. These pre-conditions are as follows:
(a)the Prospective Pipeline User must cause or procure a bank acceptable to the Tubridgi Parties to issue a bank guarantee to the Tubridgi Parties (in form and substance acceptable to the Tubridgi Parties) for an amount of not less than two months Charges (assuming that the Quantity of Gas delivered to or for the account of the Pipeline User on each Pipeline Day during that period will be equal to the MDQ);
(b)the Prospective Pipeline User must satisfy the Tubridgi Parties that the Prospective Pipeline User meets the requirements of the Credit Policy;
(c)the Prospective Pipeline User must satisfy the Tubridgi Parties that the Prospective Pipeline User has adequate arrangements in place to ensure that the aggregate Quantity of Gas delivered to the Tubridgi Parties by or for the account of the Prospective Pipeline User will be equal at all times to the aggregate Quantity of Gas delivered by the Tubridgi Parties to or for the account of the Pipeline User;
(d)the Prospective Pipeline User must satisfy the Tubridgi Parties that the Prospective Pipeline User has adequate arrangements in place to ensure that it complies with its obligations to the Tubridgi Parties in relation to the Pipeline Service;
(e)the Prospective Pipeline User has installed any Metering Equipment it is or will be required to install at any Transmission Receipt Point;
(f)the Prospective Pipeline User must satisfy the Tubridgi Parties that neither the provision of the Pipeline Service nor entry into an Agreement will contravene any applicable law; and