The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today released its Final Decision on the terms and conditions of transportation services proposed by APT Petroleum Pipelines Limited (APTPPL) for the Wallumbilla to Brisbane Gas Pipeline, also known as the Roma to Brisbane Pipeline (RBP).

The terms and conditions of transportation services are set out in APTPPL’s proposed ‘access arrangement’. The access arrangement describes the terms and conditions, including the price of transportation services (tariffs), on which APTPPL will transport gas via the RBP on behalf of third parties.

In 1998 the Queensland Government passed legislation enabling it to approve the prices of transportation services for the four Queensland gas transmission pipelines. This means that the service providers of those pipelines are not required to submit prices to the ACCC for approval.

The dates for the first review of the access arrangements have also been determined by the Queensland Government. For the RBP the first review is due in July 2006.

As a result, in reaching its Final Decision the ACCC was unable to assess the price of transportation services and the review date, but was only able to assess the other elements of the proposed access arrangement.

The ACCC has decided not to approve the access arrangement as submitted by APTPPL. The Final Decision includes the amendments that APTPPL must make to the access arrangement in order for the ACCC to approve it.

Among other things, the amendments are intended to achieve the following outcomes:

  • ensure that the provisions of the access arrangement are consistent with the Queensland legislation
  • remove the potential for APTPPL to effectively change the terms and conditions of the access arrangement, by changing its standard Access Agreement, without consulting the ACCC
  • all expansions are to be considered as part of the covered pipeline unless the ACCC agrees otherwise.

The Final Decision is available by contacting Ms Hema Berry on (02) 6243 1233.