[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 155 (Friday, August 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47228-47229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16054]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Oil 
and Gas Lease Sale 196

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice regarding Sale 196.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On June 30, 2005, the Director of MMS signed the Final Notice 
of Sale

[[Page 47229]]

for Sale 196, and on July 7, 2005, the FNOS was published in the 
Federal Register at 70 FR 39329. This notice informs potential bidders 
that the Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed by the President on August 
8, 2005, requires that royalty suspension provisions contained in the 
Energy Policy Act must be used for OCS lease sales occurring during the 
five-year period beginning on the date of its enactment. Therefore, 
deepwater royalty suspension volume provisions contained in the FNOS 
196 are superseded in part by provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 
2005.

DATES: Public bid reading will begin at 9 a.m., Wednesday, August 17, 
2005, in the Hyatt Regency Conference Center (Cabildo Rooms), 500 
Poydras Plaza, New Orleans, Louisiana. All times referred to in this 
document are local New Orleans times, unless otherwise specified.

ADDRESSES: Bidders can obtain a revised Royalty Suspension Provisions 
document and related revised documents regarding the new deepwater 
royalty suspension volumes, including a map of lease terms and economic 
conditions and a list of blocks available for leasing, for Sale 196 
from the MMS Gulf of Mexico Region Public Information Unit, 1201 
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, (504) 736-
2519 or (800) 200-GULF, or via the MMS Internet Web site at http://www.mms.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The document entitled ``Royalty Suspension 
Provisions, Lease Sale 196, Final,'' cited in the FNOS 196 specifies 
royalty suspension volumes of 12 million barrels of oil equivalent 
(BOE) for deepwater leases located in water depths of 1,600 meters or 
deeper. Paragraph (b) of Subtitle E, Section 345 of the Energy Policy 
Act of 2005, entitled ``Royalty Relief for Deep Water Production,'' 
eliminates the 1,600 meters or deeper category of royalty relief and 
establishes two new royalty suspension volume categories: 12 million 
BOE for leases located in water depths of 1,600 meters to 2,000 meters, 
and 16 million BOE for leases located in water depths greater than 
2,000 meters. These new royalty suspension volumes will be applied to 
applicable leases issued as a result of Sale 196, and bidders should 
take these Congressionally established suspension volumes into account 
in preparing their bids. All other provisions of the sale, including 
price thresholds for these new categories of deepwater royalty 
suspensions, remain the same as stated in the FNOS 196.
    Statutes and Regulations: Each lease issued in this lease sale is 
subject to the OCS Lands Act of August 7, 1953, 67 Stat. 462; 43 U.S.C. 
1331 et seq., as amended (92 Stat. 629), hereinafter called ``the 
Act''; all regulations issued pursuant to the Act and in existence upon 
the effective date of the lease; all regulations issued pursuant to the 
statute in the future which provide for the prevention of waste and 
conservation of the natural resources of the OCS and the protection of 
correlative rights therein; and all other applicable statutes and 
regulations including the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

    Dated: August 8, 2005.
R.M. ``Johnnie'' Burton,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. 05-16054 Filed 8-11-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P