The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has extended the time period for it to approve the access arrangement for the Central West natural gas transmission pipeline by two months until 31 August 1999.

The extension follows negotiations and discussions with AGL Pipelines (NSW) Pty Ltd (AGLP) about information disclosure.

AGLP submitted the proposed access arrangement to the ACCC on 31 December 1998 for approval under the National Third Party Access Code for Natural Gas Pipeline Systems.

The access arrangement describes the terms and conditions under which AGLP will make access available to third parties for transmission through the Central West Pipeline which extends from Marsden to Dubbo in NSW.

The ACCC's draft decision will be issued shortly and further submissions will be invited and considered before issuing a final decision on the proposed access arrangement.