UNITED STATES OF AMERICA In the Matter of Shell Oil Company, a corporation; and AGREEMENT CONTAINING CONSENT ORDER The Federal Trade Commission ("Commission"), having initiated an investigation of the proposed acquisition of certain assets of ANR Field Services Company and ANR Production Company (collectively referred to as "ANR"), subsidiaries of The Coastal Corporation ("Coastal"), by Shell Oil Company ("Shell") and its subsidiary, Tejas Energy, LLC ("Tejas"), and it now appearing that Shell and Tejas, hereinafter sometimes referred to as "Proposed Respondents," are willing to enter into an agreement containing an Order to divest certain assets and providing for other relief: IT IS HEREBY AGREED by and between Proposed Respondents, by their duly authorized officers and attorneys, and counsel for the Commission that: 1. Proposed Respondent Shell Oil Company is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware, with its office and principal place of business located at One Shell Plaza, Houston, Texas 77002. 2. Proposed Respondent Tejas Energy, LLC, is a limited liability company organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware, with its office and principal place of business located at 1301 McKinney, Houston, Texas 77010. 3. Proposed Respondents admit all the jurisdictional facts set forth in the draft of complaint here attached. 4. Proposed Respondents waive:
5. Proposed Respondents shall submit, within thirty (30) days of the date this agreement is signed by Proposed Respondents, an initial report, pursuant to § 2.33 of the Commission's Rules, signed by the Proposed Respondents setting forth in detail the manner in which the Proposed Respondents will comply with Paragraphs II. through V., VII., and VIII. of the Order when and if entered. Such report will not become part of the public record unless and until the accompanying agreement and Order are accepted by the Commission for public comment. 6. This agreement shall not become part of the public record of the proceeding unless and until it is accepted by the Commission. If this agreement is accepted by the Commission it, together with the draft of complaint contemplated thereby, will be placed on the public record for a period of sixty (60) days and information in respect thereto publicly released. The Commission thereafter may either withdraw its acceptance of this agreement and so notify the Proposed Respondents, in which event it will take such action as it may consider appropriate, or issue and serve its complaint (in such form as the circumstances may require) and decision, in disposition of the proceeding. 7. This agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by Proposed Respondents that the law has been violated as alleged in the draft of complaint here attached, or that the facts as alleged in the draft complaint, other than jurisdictional facts, are true. 8. This agreement contemplates that, if it is accepted by the Commission, and if such acceptance is not subsequently withdrawn by the Commission pursuant to the provisions of § 2.34 of the Commission's Rules, the Commission may, without further notice to the Proposed Respondents, (1) issue its complaint corresponding in form and substance with the draft of complaint here attached and its decision containing the following Order to divest and to cease and desist in disposition of the proceeding and (2) make information public with respect thereto. When so entered, the Order to cease and desist shall have the same force and effect and may be altered, modified or set aside in the same manner and within the same time provided by statute for other Orders. The Order shall become final upon service. Delivery by the U.S. Postal Service of the complaint and decision containing the agreed-to Order to Proposed Respondents' addresses as stated in this agreement shall constitute service. Proposed Respondents waive any right they may have to any other manner of service. The complaint may be used in construing the terms of the Order, and no agreement, understanding, representation, or interpretation not contained in the Order or the agreement may be used to vary or contradict the terms of the Order. 9. By signing this Agreement Containing Consent Order, Proposed Respondents represent that they can accomplish the full relief contemplated by this agreement. 10. Proposed Respondents have read the proposed complaint and Order contemplated hereby. Proposed Respondents understand that once the Order has been issued, they will be required to file one or more compliance reports showing that they have fully complied with the Order. Proposed Respondents further understand that they may be liable for civil penalties in the amount provided by law for each violation of the Order after it becomes final. Proposed Respondents agree to comply with the terms of the proposed Order from the date they sign this agreement. ORDER I. IT IS ORDERED that, as used in this Order, the following definitions shall apply: A. "Shell" means Shell Oil Company, its directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, predecessors, successors, and assigns; its joint ventures, subsidiaries, divisions, groups and affiliates controlled by Shell, and the respective directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, successors, and assigns of each. B. "Tejas" means Tejas Energy, LLC, its directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, predecessors, successors, and assigns; its joint ventures, subsidiaries, divisions, groups and affiliates controlled by Shell, and the respective directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, successors, and assigns of each. Tejas is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell. C. "Respondents" means Shell and Tejas, jointly and severally. D. "Coastal" means The Coastal Corporation, a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware, with its office and principal place of business located at Nine Greenway Plaza, Houston, Texas 77046-0995. E. "Commission" means the Federal Trade Commission. F. "Acquisition" means the proposed acquisition by Respondents of certain assets of ANR Field Services Company ("ANRFS") and ANR Production Company ("ANRP") (sometimes collectively referred to as "ANR"), subsidiaries of Coastal, pursuant to the Letter of Intent dated January 20, 1998, executed by ANRFS, ANRP, and Transok, LLC, a subsidiary of Tejas. G. "Gas Gathering" means pipeline transportation, for oneself or other persons, of natural gas over any part or all of the distance between a well and a gas transmission pipeline or gas processing plant. H. "Person" means any natural person, partnership, corporation, company, association, trust, joint venture or other business or legal entity, including any governmental agency. I. "Related Person" means a person controlled by, controlling, or under the common control of, another person. J. "Relevant Geographic Area" means all portions of Wheeler County, Texas, within 22 miles of the Hemphill County, Texas, border; all portions of Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, within 25 miles of the Beckham County, Oklahoma, border; all portions of Beckham County, Oklahoma, within 15 miles of the Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, border; all portions of Washita County, Oklahoma, within 18 miles of the Custer County, Oklahoma, border; Custer and Caddo Counties, Oklahoma; and all Townships in Grady County, Oklahoma, within and including the boundaries 4-6N and 5-8W. K. "Schedule A assets" means all of the assets listed in Schedule A of this Order. L. "Processing" means the separation of natural gas liquids, including propane, ethane, butanes, and pentanes-plus, from methane. II. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that: A. Following completion of the Acquisition:
B. The divestiture shall be made only to an acquirer(s) that receives the prior approval of the Commission and only in a manner that receives the prior approval of the Commission. C. Pending divestiture of the Schedule A assets, Respondents shall take such actions as are necessary to maintain the viability, competitiveness and marketability of the Schedule A assets and to prevent the destruction, removal, wasting, deterioration, or impairment of any of the Schedule A assets, except for ordinary wear and tear. D. To ensure the marketability of the assets to be divested, Respondents shall offer the purchaser of any of the assets listed in Schedule A the opportunity to enter into an agreement with reasonable terms to process the natural gas gathered in the relevant geographic area in Tejas processing facilities for a term of up to two (2) years, cancelable at the asset purchaser's option with ninety (90) days notice. E. 1. From the time that Respondents acquire the Schedule A assets that are currently owned by ANR until their divestiture has been completed in pertinent part, Respondents shall offer to purchase, gather and process gas on those Schedule A assets on the same terms and conditions offered by ANR on the date of their transfer. 2. If a producer, operator, or shipper executes a waiver of its rights under Paragraph II.E.1., Respondents may contract on such other terms and conditions as they may deem appropriate. F. The purpose of the divestiture is to ensure the continued use of the Schedule A assets in the same type of business in which the Schedule A assets are used at the time of the Acquisition, and to remedy the lessening of competition resulting from the Acquisition as alleged in the Commission's complaint. III. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that: A. If Respondents have not divested the Schedule A assets in accordance with the requirements of Paragraph II of this Order, the Commission may appoint a trustee to divest the Schedule A assets. In the event that the Commission or the Attorney General brings an action pursuant to Section 5(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, Section 15 U.S.C. § 45(1), or any other statute enforced by the Commission, Respondents shall consent to the appointment of a trustee to divest the Schedule A assets in such action. Neither the appointment of a trustee nor a decision not to appoint a trustee under Paragraph III shall preclude the Commission or the Attorney General from seeking civil penalties or any other relief available to it, including a court-appointed trustee, pursuant to Section 5(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, or any other statute enforced by the Commission, for any failure by Respondents to comply with this Order. B. If a trustee is appointed by the Commission or a court pursuant to Paragraph III.A., Respondents shall consent to the following terms and conditions regarding the trustee's powers, duties, authority, and responsibilities:
IV. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, for a period of ten (10) years from the date this Order becomes final, Respondents shall not, without prior notification to the Commission, directly or indirectly:
V. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the prior notifications required by Paragraph IV of this Order shall be given on the Notification and Report Form set forth in the Appendix to Part 803 of Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations as amended (hereinafter referred to as "the Notification"), and shall be prepared and transmitted in accordance with the requirements of Part 803, except that no filing fee will be required for any such notification, notification shall be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, notification need not be made to the United States Department of Justice, and notification is required only of Respondents. In lieu of furnishing (1) documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, (2) annual reports, (3) annual audit reports, (4) regularly prepared balance sheets, or (5) Standard Industrial Code (SIC) information in response to certain items in the Appendix to Part 803 of Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Respondents shall provide a map showing the location of the pipeline whose acquisition is proposed and other pipelines used for gas gathering in the Relevant Geographic Area and a statement showing, for the most recent 12 month period for which volume information is available, the quantity of gas that flowed through pipeline whose acquisition is proposed. Respondents shall provide the Notification to the Commission at least thirty days prior to consummating any such transaction (hereinafter referred to as the "first waiting period"). If, within the first waiting period, representatives of the Commission make a written request for additional information (within the meaning of 16 C.F.R. § 803.20), Respondents shall not consummate the transaction until twenty days after substantially complying with such request for additional information. Early termination of the waiting periods in this Paragraph may be requested and, where appropriate, granted by letter from the Bureau of Competition. Provided, however, that prior notification shall not be required by Paragraph IV of this Order for a transaction for which notification is required to be made, and has been made, pursuant to Section 7A of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. 18a. VI. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that:
VII. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Respondents shall notify the Commission at least thirty (30) days prior to any proposed change in Respondents, such as dissolution, assignment, sale resulting in the emergence of a successor corporation, or the creation or dissolution of subsidiaries or any other change that may affect compliance obligations arising out of the Order. VIII. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, for the purpose of determining or securing compliance with this Order, upon written request, Respondents shall permit any duly authorized representative of the Commission:
IX. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order shall terminate ten (10) years from the date this Order becomes final. Dated: SHELL OIL COMPANY, a corporation ____________________________ TEJAS ENERGY, LLC ___________________________ ____________________________ FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Schedule A
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