Glossary of Terms - O

The glossary of terms is arranged alphabetically. Click on the letters below to find terms beginning with that letter.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Off-peak: Period of low gas demand, like the summer months in the Northeast. Open Access Transportation: Pipeline transportation services that are available to all shippers on a nondiscriminatory basis.

Open Season: Generally refers to a period of time when all parties are given equal consideration. FERC created "open seasons" to accept applications for new pipeline capacity into the Northeast and Mobile Bay. A pipeline itself may hold an "open season" to accept bids for new transportation capacity.

Operational Balancing Agreement (OBA): An agreement between a pipeline and parties at delivery or receipt points, in which parties agree to specified procedures for balancing discrepancies between nominated levels of service and actual quantities. An OBA typically provides that any difference between actual and scheduled volumes at a point will be recorded as an imbalance for the upstream or downstream pipeline and not on a shipper's transportation agreement. The pipeline provides a means of balancing-either in-kind or through a cash-out- within the OBA.

Order 636: FERC's final rule on pipeline restructuring, issued April 8,1992. The rule ordered interstate pipelines to unbundle sales from transportation services at upstream points near production and offered blanket certificates to allow pipelines to offer unbundled firm and interruptible sales at market-based rates. Order 636 also required pipelines to provide "no-notice" firm transportation for small customers, allowed pre-granted abandonment for transportation service, unbundled storage by defining it as part of transportation, called for flexible receipt and delivery pints, and guaranteed shipper access to capacity on upstream facilities.