[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 20 (Friday, January 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4536-4540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2011]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Alaska Region, Norton Basin

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Call for information and nominations.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary's decision to consider offering the Norton Basin 
planning area in the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2002-2007 
provides for an 18-month ``special-interest'' process beginning with 
publication of this Call. Based on the information and specific 
nominations received as a result of this Call, a decision will be made 
whether to proceed with a sale.

DATES: Nominations and comments on the Call must be received no later 
than 90 days after publication of this document in the Federal 
Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please call Tom Warren at (907) 271-
6691 in MMS's Alaska OCS Region regarding questions on the Call.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The objective of this ``special-interest'' 
leasing option is to foster exploration in a high-cost frontier OCS 
area remote from oil and gas infrastructure without investment of the 
considerable time and effort required for holding a typical lease sale. 
The general approach is to query industry regarding the level of 
interest in proceeding with a sale in the Norton Basin that would offer 
only very small, very focused areas of specific interest for 
exploration and to request nominations of such areas. Norton Basin may 
contain quantities of natural gas, which might be used for western 
Alaska communities if economically feasible. We also request comments 
from the general public on this special-interest leasing process, 
including the terms and conditions of a sale. The MMS will consider all 
comments and nominations in the decision on whether and where within 
the Norton Basin to proceed with leasing and on the terms and 
conditions of a lease sale proposal. A decision to offer a nominated 
area for leasing will depend on a commitment from industry to explore 
the area leased within a specific time period.
    This is the third Call issued for the Norton Basin for this 5-year 
program. The first two Calls were published in the Federal Register on 
January 22, 2002, and March 25, 2003, respectively. No interest was 
expressed for either Call; therefore, the process was stopped and 
deferred to this year. If no interest is expressed in response to this 
third Call, the MMS will defer the sale for one year and reissue the 
Call the following year. This process will continue throughout the 5-
year program until there is sufficient interest to proceed with the 
planning steps toward a sale. Only one round of lease issuance in 
Norton Basin would occur during this 5-year program.
    This Call does not indicate a preliminary decision to lease in the 
area described below. If the MMS decides to proceed with the sale 
process, the MMS will make the final decision on the specific areas for 
possible leasing at a later date in the presale process and in 
compliance with the 5-year program and with applicable laws including 
all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the OCS Lands Act. The MMS may adjust the dimensions of a nominated 
area after discussions with the nominating company.

Call for Information and Nominations

1. Authority

    This Call is published pursuant to the OCS Lands Act, as amended 
(43 U.S.C. 1331-1356, [1994]), and the regulations issued thereunder 
(30 CFR part 256 and 30 CFR part 260); and in accordance with the OCS 
Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2002 to 2007, approved June 27, 2002.

2. Purpose of Call

    The purpose of the Call is to gather preliminary information, to 
request nomination of specific areas of interest to industry, and to 
request comments on the terms and conditions of offering these special-
interest lands. The Call also serves to initiate public outreach to 
assist in preparation of the NEPA analysis for this proposal. This 
proposal is in keeping with Sec. 102(9) of the OCS Lands Act Amendments 
of 1978, which states as a purpose of the statute, ``* * * to insure 
that the extent of oil and natural gas resources of the OCS is assessed 
at the earliest practicable time.'' The objective of the ``special-
interest'' leasing process is to encourage exploration in a frontier 
OCS area that might contain natural gas for potential use in local 
communities. The sale would offer for lease both oil and gas.
    We seek comments, information, and nominations on oil and gas 
leasing, exploration, and development and production within the Norton 
Basin from all interested parties. We also seek comments on the terms, 
conditions, and economic incentives of a sale in the Norton Basin. We 
strongly encourage industry and other interested parties to contact the 
MMS, Alaska OCS Region, Mr. Tom Warren at (907) 271-6691, with 
questions or to discuss interest in the area. This early planning and 
consultation step is particularly important to this special-interest 
lands process. The MMS will base its decision on whether to proceed 
with the presale process and the terms and conditions of a sale on the 
nominations and other information received in response to this Call. 
This process will ensure a decision that considers the concerns of all 
respondents in future decisions in this leasing process pursuant to the 
OCSLA and regulations at 30 CFR part 256 and 30 CFR part 260. We 
encourage commenters to submit comments and suggestions on the 
``special-interest'' leasing process in general.
    This Call is being issued in accordance with the OCS Oil and Gas 
Leasing Program 2002 to 2007, approved June 27, 2002. The program 
offers one sale in the Norton Basin during the 5-year program. This is 
the third Call issued for the Norton Basin Program Area. The first two 
Calls were published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2002, and 
March 25, 2003, respectively. No interest was expressed for either 
Call. If no interest is expressed in response to this third Call, the 
MMS will defer the sale for one year and reissue the Call the following 
year. This process will continue throughout the 5-year program until 
there is sufficient interest to proceed with the planning steps toward 
a sale. Only one round of lease issuance in Norton Basin would occur 
during this 5-year program.

3. Description of Area

    The area subject to this Call is located offshore the State of 
Alaska in the northern Bering Sea, west and south off the coast of the 
Seward Peninsula. It consists of approximately 4,742 whole and partial 
blocks (about 25 million acres). It extends offshore from about 3 to 
approximately 320 miles in water depths from about 25 feet to 
approximately 650 feet.
    A page-size map of the area accompanies this Notice. A large scale 
Call map showing the boundaries of the area on a block-by-block basis 
is available without charge from the Public Information Office at the 
address given below, or by telephone request at (907) 271-6438 or 1-
800-764-2627. Copies of Official Protraction Diagrams (OPDs) are also 
available for $2 each.

Alaska OCS Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th

[[Page 4537]]

Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska, 99508-4302, [email protected].

4. Instructions on Call

    The Call for Information Map and indications of interest and/or 
comments must be submitted to the Regional Supervisor, Leasing and 
Environment, at the above address.
    The Call map delineates the area that is the subject of this Call. 
Respondents are requested to indicate very specific areas of interest 
in and comment on the Federal acreage within the boundaries of the Call 
area that they wish to have included in a proposed sale in the Norton 
Basin.
    If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any one of 
the following methods:
     You may mail comments to the Alaska OCS Region, 
Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, 
Alaska 99508-4302.
     You may also comment via e-mail to 
[email protected]. Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII 
file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. 
Please also include ``Attn: Comments on Call for Information and 
Nominations for Proposed 2005 Lease Sale in Norton Basin'' and your 
name and return address in your Internet message.
     Finally, you may hand deliver comments to the 
Alaska OCS Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, 
Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4302.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and addresses of 
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours. 
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their address from 
the rulemaking record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by 
law. Under certain circumstances we can withhold a respondent's 
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name 
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will 
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their 
entirety.
    A. Areas of Interest to the Oil and Gas Industry. Industry must be 
candid and very specific regarding the areas they nominate if this 
process is to succeed. The purpose of this process is to identify and 
offer only small-focused areas where industry has a significant 
interest in exploration. Nominations covering large-scale areas will 
not be helpful in defining these areas.
    Nominations must be depicted on the Call map by outlining the 
area(s) of interest along block lines. Nominators are asked to submit a 
list of whole and partial blocks nominated (by OPD and block number) to 
facilitate correct interpretation of their nominations on the Call map. 
Although the identities of those submitting nominations become a matter 
of public record, the individual nominations are proprietary 
information. The telephone number and name of a person to contact in 
the nominator's organization for additional information should be 
included in the response. This person will be contacted to set up a 
mutually agreeable time and place for a meeting with the Alaska OCS 
Regional Office to present their views regarding the company's 
nominations.
    B. Terms, Conditions, and Economic Incentives Pertaining to Lease 
Issuance. We request respondents to comment on the terms, conditions, 
and economic incentives pertaining to lease issuance for any leases 
that may be issued as a result of a sale in the Norton Basin. The MMS 
is aware of the lack of infrastructure and distance from shore to some 
of the blocks in this area and will consider these factors in designing 
any incentives. The following are being considered for use in this 
sale:

--Lease term of 10 years
--Submission of an exploration plan within 8 years of lease issuance
--Economic incentives similar in form to those contained in the Notice 
of Sale for Beaufort Sea Sale 186 (68 FR 50549). Incentives for 
Beaufort Sea Sale 186 were:
    --Royalty suspension volumes for oil production (with possible 
consideration for gas)
    --Reduced rental rates
    --Lower minimum bid requirements

    C. Relation to Coastal Management Plans (CMPs). We also seek 
comments on potential conflicts with approved local CMPs that may 
result from the proposed sale and future OCS oil and gas activities. 
These comments should identify specific CMP policies of concern, the 
nature of the conflicts foreseen, and steps that MMS could take to 
avoid or mitigate the potential conflicts. Comments may be in terms of 
broad areas or restricted to particular blocks of concern. We request 
commenters to list block numbers or outline the subject area on the 
large-scale Call map.

5. Use of Information From Call

    Information submitted in response to this Call will be used for 
several purposes. We will use responses to:

--Determine whether to proceed with a competitive oil and gas lease 
sale in Norton Basin
--Identify specific areas of interest for oil and/or gas exploration 
and development
--Identify environmental effects and potential use conflicts
--Assist in the public outreach for the environmental analysis
--Develop possible alternatives to the proposed action
--Develop lease terms and conditions/mitigating measures
--Identify potential conflicts between oil and gas activities and the 
Alaska CMP

6. Existing Information

    An extensive environmental, social, and economic studies program 
has been underway in the Alaska OCS Region since 1976, including 
studies in this area. The emphasis has been on geologic mapping, 
environmental characterization of biologically sensitive habitats, 
endangered whales and marine mammals, physical oceanography, ocean-
circulation modeling, and ecological and socio-cultural effects of oil 
and gas activities.
    The MMS has had one past sale in the Norton Basin area. In March 
1983, Sale 57 was held and resulted in 59 leases being issued. There 
were six exploratory wells drilled, but all have been permanently 
plugged and abandoned. All 59 leases have been relinquished or expired. 
The Alaska OCS Region document ``Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources, 
Alaska Federal Offshore, December 2000 Update'' (http://www.mms.gov/alaska/re/uogr/uogr.pdf), estimates the undiscovered conventionally 
recoverable resources at:

[[Page 4538]]



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                                               Oil and NGL (BBO)                        GAS (TCFG)                       BOE (BBO)
               Area               ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    MPhc
                                      F95            Mean            F05        F95        Mean       F05        F95        Mean       F05
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NORTON BASIN.....................       0.00  0.05 (NGL)........       0.15       0.00       2.71       8.74       0.00       0.53       1.70       0.72
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BBO, billions of barrels of oil and natural gas liquids; TCFG, trillions of cubic feet; BOE, total oil and gas in billions of energy-equivalent barrels
  (5,620 cubic feet of gas=1 energy-equivalent barrel of oil); reported MEAN, resource quantities at the mean in cumulative probability distributions;
  F95, the resource quantity having a 95-percent probability of being met or exceeded; F05, the resource quantity having a 5-percent probability of
  being met or exceeded; MPhc, marginal probability for hydrocarbons for basin, i.e., chance for the existence of at least one pool of undiscovered,
  conventionally recoverable hydrocarbons somewhere in the basin. Resource quantities shown are risked, that is, they are the product of multiplication
  of conditional resources and Mphc. All liquid resources in Norton basin are natural gas liquids that would only be recovered by natural gas
  production.

    Information on the studies program, completed studies, and a 
program status report for continuing studies in this area may be 
obtained from the Chief, Environmental Studies Section, Alaska OCS 
Region, by telephone request at (907) 271-6577, or by written request 
at the address stated under Description of Area. A request may also be 
made via the Alaska OCS Region Web site at http://www.mms.gov/alaska/ref/pubindex/pubsindex.htm.

7. Tentative Schedule

    If MMS receives specific nominations from industry in response to 
this Call and decides to proceed with the pre-sale process, the 
following is a list of tentative milestone dates applicable to a Norton 
Basin sale in 2005:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Tentative process milestones
                                          for proposed 2005 Norton Basin
                                                       Sale
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Call published/public outreach           January 2004.
 initiated.
Comments due on Call...................  April 2004.
Decision whether to proceed/Area         May 2004.
 Identification.
NEPA analysis..........................  February 2005.
Consistency Determination/Proposed       April 2005.
 Notice of Sale.
Governor's Comments due................  June 2005.
Final Notice of Sale published.........  August 2005.
Sale...................................  September 2005.
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    Approved:
    Dated: January 20, 2004.
R.M. ``Johnnie'' Burton,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN30JA04.037


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[FR Doc. 04-2011 Filed 1-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-C