U.S. FERC delays responding to Magellan's request for rehearing
(Refiles to remove erroneous coding)
NEW YORK, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. energy regulator on Monday said it extended the timeframe to respond to Magellan Midstream Partners' request for a rehearing on its proposal to establish a marketing arm to buy, sell and ship crude oil.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) extended the 30-day deadline by which it is required to respond to appeals of its decisions, according to a filing.
The order "provides the Commission as much as it needs to review thoroughly the issues raised in the record" and make a decision, a FERC spokeswoman said in a statement.
On Nov. 22, FERC denied Magellan's proposal to establish a marketing affiliate. Marketing arms are common in the pipeline industry, and most of the top 10 largest U.S. pipeline operators have already established their own marketing or trading arms.
Magellan requested a rehearing on Dec. 22, in a filing that rivals said raised new issues that could have far-reaching consequences for the oil industry and could jeopardize existing marketing affiliates.
Last week, oil and gas producers WPX Energy and Chevron asked FERC for a new hearing on the broad industry impact of Magellan's request. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
