Liquefied Natural Gas: Details of the bill
In parallel with the project to develop a national gas infrastructure, the Minister for Energy Transition is working on another project. This involves drafting a bill on the import, export, storage, transport, distribution, and supply of natural gas.
A piece of legislation has been sent to the Secretariat General of the Government (SGG) to finalize the adoption procedure. In the meantime, the draft law has been submitted to the public for consultation. According to Leila Benali, who spoke on the subject to MPs during the Question Time session, the aim of this bill is to promote the sector and improve its performance, while sending a strong signal to domestic and foreign investors to develop infrastructure, equipment, as well as transport and distribution networks. The legislation also aims to enshrine the principle of transparency, set up governance mechanisms and strengthen the institutional framework, notably by separating the missions and areas of intervention of the various players in the sector. According to leaked information, the purpose of the bill is to lay down the principles and rules applicable to the import, export, storage, transport, distribution and supply of natural gas, as well as ancillary activities. Article 4 defines the natural gas supply activity carried out by the aggregator. The latter’s powers and governance arrangements are defined by regulation. Thus, the aggregator is responsible for the public service of supply and storage in accordance with the provisions of the present law and the texts taken for its implementation. In addition to ensuring the country’s reliable supply of competitive natural gas, the aggregator is required to enter into contracts for the purchase of liquefied natural gas from international operators and contracts for the purchase of natural gas from producers exploiting domestic fields. The aggregator must respect the principle of transparency and non-discrimination in the wholesale of natural gas.
Under Article 6, the transmission system operator carries out its public service missions in accordance with specifications laid down by regulation. Whatever the nature of its shareholding – public, private or mixed – it is obliged to issue a minimum of 25% of its share capital to the public, in accordance with the procedures laid down by its governing bodies. This must be done within 6 years of its creation. The operator’s resources come from interconnection access tariffs, the price of using gas facilities other than distribution facilities. In addition, the operator receives remuneration for other services rendered to users of gas facilities, and any other revenue collected in accordance with current legislation and regulations.
The operator draws up a ten-year development plan for the gas facilities for which it is responsible. This is done in coordination with the energy authority, after consultation with all users and based on medium- and long-term forecasts of national natural gas consumption and production, and exchanges with third parties. This plan must take account of national energy policy guidelines and the five-year investment program for the electricity transmission network. The plan defines the gas infrastructure to be built or modified, and lists the investments already decided on as well as those to be carried out, providing a provisional timetable for the completion of all investment projects.
M.C.
