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The Energy Information Administration (EIA) will transition to a new Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR) on November 1, 2007. The three areas of change are:
- New Design
- New Release Procedure
- New Web Address
EIA will provide a sample of the new WNGSR on the Internet on Thursday, September 27. All customers of the WNGSR are encouraged to review the sample Web site http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/ngs/ngs.html to familiarize themselves with the revised contents. Additionally, the EIA will initiate testing of a new program designed to improve access to the WNGSR. Customer testing of the WNGSR will commence October 1. Additional details on the testing are provided below. We urge you to participate in the tests so you can identify and resolve any problems prior to implementation. This is especially important for data users that rely on automated retrieval programs.
Any automated retrieval program (commonly referred to as a "robot") that excessively accesses information from EIA's website is prohibited. Excessive robot activity on EIA's website can cause delays and interfere with other customers' timely access to information. The EIA is committed to provide equal access to information on its website and to promptly release information according to established schedules. The EIA retains the right to limit or deny the use of any robotic activity that EIA considers an excessive or malicious practice (for example, robots that access or download information from EIA websites multiple times per second).
Users of the data who want to receive e-mail notices concerning news about the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report can sign up at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/ngs/ng_weekly_storage.html.
BACKGROUND
New Design. The revised format of the WNGSR will present an improved look to the basic data table. Additionally, the entire set of WNGSR-related documents has been reorganized to enhance customer usability.
New Release Procedure. The high level of interest in the EIA's WNGSR has resulted in substantial activity on the EIA web site. This activity has sometimes made it difficult for customers to access WNGSR data in a timely manner, mainly because of repeated attempts by web site users to access the new data in the moments leading up to the actual release time. To mitigate this situation, EIA has developed what we term a Gatekeeper application to ensure secure and prompt posting of the WNGSR. Gatekeeper will deny customer access to the data area for a brief period before the release time for the new data, and thereby accomplish two objectives. First, it will allow EIA to replace the prior week's data with the new data without having to contend with web site users' repeated attempts to access the new data prior to its release. Second, it will reduce the amount of EIA bandwidth unnecessarily occupied by customers during these attempts, which can jeopardize performance of the Web site for all.
New Web Address. The WNGSR will be moved from its current server to another EIA site with better performance attributes. The new address is http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/ngs/ngs.html.
TESTING PROCEDURE
We have successfully tested the Gatekeeper with a limited number of EIA customers. We are providing an opportunity to test the application to all users of the data. To that end, we are asking all WNGSR customers who would normally access the data at 10:30 a.m. on Thursdays to participate in the test. If you are one of these customers, please attempt to access the test version of WNGSR at the following test directory address: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/ngs/ngs.html
Please access the data by whatever method you normally use starting 5 minutes before the scheduled test release time. Accessing the WNGSR site during that time period will result in your receiving a web page displaying a "503 error - Page Temporarily Unavailable," and a message stating that the data will be automatically sent to your PC in "x" number of seconds. ONCE YOU RECEIVE THIS "503 ERROR" PAGE, YOU NEED DO NOTHING FURTHER. The newly released test file will be automatically delivered to you by the Gatekeeper when it is released at the scheduled test release times listed below. We are confident that those of you who manually access the WNGSR through the use of your browser software will have no problems. We generally prefer that EIA web site customers not use automated retrieval programs (also referred to as robots) against the site. However, those customers who feel they must use robots will need to make some configuration changes because of the new format and release procedure. This test should enable you to make that determination.
Following the test, please send feedback on any problems you encountered to gatekeeper@eia.doe.gov. If you have any questions prior to the test, please contact the EIA webmaster at: gatekeeper@eia.doe.gov.
We are asking all WNGSR customers to participate in one or more of the upcoming tests. Note that the initial sample file will contain the data for January 5, 2007, which was released on January 11. As each test occurs, the test file will be replaced with historical data from the successive week. The historical data should correspond to each test as follows (note that the 'release date' for testing purposes will be automatically listed as 6 days after the historical report week).
| Day |
Date |
Time |
Date of historical test data |
| Monday |
October 1, 2007 |
11:00 a.m. |
January 12, 2007 |
| Monday |
October 1, 2007 |
2:00 p.m. |
January 19, 2007 |
| Wednesday |
October 3, 2007 |
11:00 a.m. |
January 26, 2007 |
| Wednesday |
October 3, 2007 |
2:00 p.m. |
February 2, 2007 |
| Friday |
October 5, 2007 |
11:00 a.m. |
February 9, 2007 |
| Friday |
October 5, 2007 |
2:00 p.m. |
February 16, 2007 |
| Monday |
October 15, 2007 |
11:00 a.m. |
February 23, 2007 |
| Monday |
October 15, 2007 |
2:00 p.m. |
March 2, 2007 |
| Wednesday |
October 17, 2007 |
11:00 a.m. |
March 9, 2007 |
| Wednesday |
October 17, 2007 |
2:00 p.m. |
March 16, 2007 |
| Friday |
October 19, 2007 |
11:00 a.m. |
March 23, 2007 |
| Friday |
October 19, 2007 |
2:00 p.m. |
March 30, 2007 |
The instructions for all tests are as follows.
1. Between 10:55 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (or 1:55 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. EST) on the days specified above, access the WNGSR at the following TEST URL: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/ngs/ngs.html.
2. After you have accessed the test URL, you will receive a customized "503 Error - Page Temporarily Unavailable" like the one below:
503 - Sorry! This file is temporarily
unavailable.
A new version of this file is currently
pending release.
The new file will be released in exactly
57.660 seconds.
This page will automatically refresh to
download the new release in 57.660 seconds.
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3. Once you receive the 503 error page, DO NOTHING ELSE. The file you requested will be automatically delivered to you by the Gatekeeper when it is released at 11:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m.
4. Following the test, please email the EIA Webmaster at gatekeeper@eia.doe.gov and let us know how the test worked at your location.
MANUAL USERS: We are confident that those of you who manually access the WNGSR through the use of your browser software will encounter no problems.
ROBOT USERS: It is ESSENTIAL that robot users participate in this test because the information will be in a new format and also we cannot predict how your robot will interpret the 503 error. You will need to make some configuration changes. This test should enable you to determine the appropriate action. Please email the EIA Webmaster at gatekeeper@eia.doe.gov if you have problems or questions.
When we implement the Gatekeeper on November 1, 2007, you will continue to use the same URL as was used for the testing.
If you are not the individual who normally accesses the WNGSR for your organization, please pass this information on to the responsible person. If you have any questions prior to the test, please contact the EIA Webmaster at gatekeeper@eia.doe.gov
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