[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 68 (Thursday, April 9, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 17330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-9285]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

30 CFR Part 203


Announcement of Public Workshop on Final Regulations Implementing 
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Deep Water Royalty Relief Act

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Workshop.

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SUMMARY: MMS issued final regulations implementing Public Law 104-58, 
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Deepwater Royalty Relief Act and 
guidelines on January 16, 1998 on the procedure lease owners' use to 
apply for deep water royalty relief and for end-of-life royalty relief. 
This notice announces a workshop to illustrate the application 
requirements, explain the relief qualification systems, and answer 
evaluation and implementation questions.

DATES: MMS will hold the workshop Wednesday, June 10, 1998, from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the Gulf of Mexico Regional 
Office, 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., Elmwood Towers Bldg., Room 111, New 
Orleans, LA 70123.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marshall Rose, Chief, Economics Division, MMS at (703) 787-1538, or 
Mike Melancon, Gulf of Mexico Regional Supervisor, Production and 
Development, MMS at (504) 736-2675.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Owners of leases that pre-date November 28, 
1995 and are located in water 200 meters or deeper in the Central or 
Western Gulf of Mexico may request suspension of royalties by 
submitting a complete application. The final rule and guidelines 
specify the contents and format for such an application along with the 
criteria for, and conditions of, approval (63 FR 2605, January 16, 
1998).
    Part of the submission involves use of a computer model developed 
by MMS. Applicants use this model to organize their data and 
demonstrate that royalty relief can make their otherwise uneconomic 
field or expansion project economic. MMS has issued a revised version 
of this computer model (RSVP 2.0) that uses more widely available 
Windows-based spreadsheets. This workshop will show interested parties 
how to use the model, how to best support the values they input to the 
model, and how MMS has dealt with selected issues raised in early 
applications. In conjunction with the workshop, MMS will also issue 
documentation for the revised RSVP model and review technical 
corrections including new price assumptions for the deep water 
guidelines.
    Owners of producing leases anywhere on the Outer Continental Shelf 
may qualify for reduced royalty rates. The final rule and guidelines on 
end-of-life royalty relief describe the conditions under which leases 
qualify for this relief. This system replaces and significantly 
simplifies the net revenue share relief system previously available to 
leases nearing the end of their economic life. This workshop will show 
how interested parties may determine whether their leases qualify for, 
and how royalty would be determined under, end-of-life relief.
    MMS encourages all interested parties to attend the workshop and 
participate in the discussions. It should be especially valuable for 
those who will be responsible for preparing applications for their 
companies. Question and answer periods will be part of each session.
    There is no registration fee for this workshop. However, to assess 
the probable number of participants, MMS requests participants to 
register with Mary Carter by calling (504) 736-2675 or FAX (504) 736-
1738 before June 5, 1998. Seating is limited and will be on a first-
come-first-seated basis.

Preliminary Agenda

     Welcome and Introduction.
     Review of the Deep Water Relief Evaluation Process.
     Use of the Resource Module of RSVP.
     Use of the Viability Module of RSVP.
     Evaluation Issues (e.g., price, sunk costs, joint costs, 
multi-lease fields) with Deep Water Applications.
     Process Issues (e.g., redetermination, tolling, field 
naming, dissemination of decisions) with Deep Water Applications.
     Structure and Qualification for End-of-Life Relief.

    Dated: April 1, 1998.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 98-9285 Filed 4-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-M