RCA accepts confidentiality of filings

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

In an order issued July 2, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska said documents submitted May 4 by BP Pipelines and Harvest Alaska as confidential meet statutory and regulatory requirements to be treated as confidential and the commission recognizes them as such.

The filings are part of dockets in three joint applications filed in September by BP Pipelines (Alaska) and Harvest Alaska for transfer to Harvest Alaska of BPPA’s indirect 32% interest in PTE Pipeline, an indirect 50% interest in the Milne Point Pipeline and certificate of public convenience and necessity No. 311, which authorizes BPPA to own and operate 48.441% of Trans Alaska Pipeline System assets and 47.5881% of Valdez Marine Terminal tankage assets.

The midstream asset transfers are part of the Hilcorp purchase of BP’s Alaska assets; the upstream portion closed June 30.

The commission said it had recognized the confidentiality of documents filed as such earlier in the process; the July 2 order applies to additional documents it requested and received May 4, documents for which applicants also requested confidential treatment.

Among the filings addressed were the amendment to the purchase and sale agreement: The commission said they previously classified the purchase and sale agreement as confidential and said the same rational applies. “Given the negotiated nature of this amendment to the agreement in a competitive climate, we find that the need for confidential treatment of the amendment outweighs the public interest in disclosure.”

The remaining documents that are subject of the May 4 petition for confidentiality qualify as confidential under state statue precluding RCA “from disclosing to the general public documents related to the finances or operations of a pipeline carrier subject to federal jurisdiction if the document is not required to be filed with the appropriate federal agency.”

The three pipelines are subject to federal jurisdiction and documents related to operations and finances are not required to be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, RCA said, and the rationale applied to earlier filings is equally applicable to the May 4 filings.

- KRISTEN NELSON