08 - OPIS SSJ FAR 13.5 SAM.gov_Redacted.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION UNDER SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN

COMMERCIAL ITEMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL ACQUISITION

REGULATION (FAR) 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Headquarters Procurement Services (MA-64), located in Washington, D.C., proposes to enter a contract on the basis of other than full and open competition with Dow Jones & Company, Inc. This action is in support of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Office of Energy Statistics (OES) and Office of Energy Analysis (OEA). This document sets forth the justification for the sole-source acquisition found at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.5, and in accordance with 41 U.S. Code § 1901 and FAR subpart 13.5 procedures.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

EIA intends to award a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) order to Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

for a one-year Base and two one-year Options from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.

EIA requires an order with Dow Jones & Company, Inc. to procure a subscription to energy products and services that provide the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) integrated suite of crude oil, refined petroleum products, ethanol, and biofuels data and news information services to support EIA’s collection, statistical estimation, analysis, modeling, and data validation and reporting mission.

Contract Awardee Information:

• Company Name: Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

• Company Address: 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036

• Unique Entity ID (UEI): Q34UKAD7ZCB4

• CAGE Code: 0U6M1

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs including the estimated value.

This requirement consists of a subscription to Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS products and services for up to 15 EIA users. This subscription includes:

• Pricing information for ethanol, biofuels, and key feedstocks, along with news related to events in the renewable fuels industry (Renewable Identification Numbers pricing, domestic and international price and volume analysis, etc.) to inform EIA products such as the Short-Term Energy Outlook and other modeling efforts.

• Annual active retail gasoline station, diesel fuel service station, and truck stop lists to develop comprehensive frame lists for developing sampling methodologies and frame maintenance procedures for the weekly gasoline and diesel fuel price surveys to include:

Station ID, Station Name, Address, City, State, Zip Code, Gas Brand, Store Brand and Corporate Brand, latitude/longitude, County, cardlock indicator, and Phone Number.

• Retail prices of gasoline and/or diesel fuel at the service station and truck stop level. This information will be used internally for data validation and research purposes to analyze

Company’s OPIS is unique in its ability to provide multiple daily updates to real time events in the U.S. Refined Products Industry and informs critical EIA products such as the Short- Term Energy Outlook and other modeling efforts. Additionally, the level of detail available in the data on domestic markets is unsurpassed, and the breadth and timeliness of this coverage lacks any peers that can provide such a service at the cost offered by Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS.

EIA would not be able to carry out its mission of providing timely and relevant information to policymakers without the data that Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS provides in the manner that Dow Jones & Company provides it. Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS stands as the only responsible source for the required energy data and has attested to the fact that it is the only provider of its data in a sole proprietor letter dated July 3, 2024.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practical, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

The Contracting Officer posted a Notice of Intent to Sole Source to SAM.gov on July 10, 2024 as required by FAR 5.2, to ensure offers were solicited from as many potential sources as practicable for this sole-source Firm-Fixed-Price order. The posting closed July 25, 2024 with no vendors responding to the notice of intent.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

No award shall be made until the Contracting Officer determines the cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on a comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases and market research.

8. A description of the market research conducted:

EIA attends conferences and meetings to stay abreast of the international crude oil and petroleum product markets and conducts inquiries to collect information on publications and other periodicals. The market research conducted included surveying whether other vendors provide this data and was accomplished through searches of previous DOE contracts and Internet searches. EIA has concluded that there is no other publicly available source for the integrated set of data provided by Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS. Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS is the exclusive creator, publisher, and distributor for all the content contained in Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS products and services. The material is written entirely by Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS team, and it retains the exclusive copyright to this content.

Furthermore, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted to SAM.gov on July 10, 2024 and closed July 25, 2024. No responses were received.

9. Other facts supporting the use of Sole Source Justification

N/A

10. A statement of actions, if any, that were taken to remove or overcome any barriers to competition:

No other vendors have been identified or expressed an interest in providing the unique detailed reports that are supplied by Dow Jones & Company’s OPIS. If in the future other sources are identified to provide these unique reports, then this requirement will be competed.

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CERTIFICATION

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

, Contracting Officer’s Representative Date

REVIEWS AND APPROVALS

I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Concurrence:

Date Contracting Officer Office of Headquarters Procurement Services (MA-64.1) U.S. Department of Energy

Approval:

Date Procuring Activity Competition Advocate Office of Headquarters Procurement Services (MA-64.1) U.S. Department of Energy