[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6819-6820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-2745]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Natural Resources Revenue

[Docket No. ONRR-2011-0002]


States' Decisions on Participating in Accounting and Auditing 
Relief for Federal Oil and Gas Marginal Properties

AGENCY: Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of states' decisions to participate or not participate 
in accounting and auditing relief for Federal oil and gas marginal 
properties located within the states' boundaries for calendar year 
2011.

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SUMMARY: Final regulations published September 13, 2004 (69 FR 55076), 
provide two types of accounting and auditing relief for Federal onshore 
or Outer Continental Shelf lease production from marginal properties. 
As required by the regulations, the Office of Natural Resources Revenue 
(ONRR) (the former Minerals Management Service) provided a list of 
qualifying marginal Federal oil and gas properties to states that 
received a portion of Federal royalties. Each state then decided 
whether to participate in one or both relief options. For calendar year 
2011, this notice provides the decisions by the affected states to 
allow one or both types of relief.

DATES: Effective January 1, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Peterson, Economic and Market 
Analysis, ONRR, telephone (303) 231-3869; e-mail 
thomas.peterson@onrr.gov; or mail to Office of Natural Resources 
Revenue, P.O. Box 25165, MS 61110B, Denver Federal Center, Denver, 
Colorado 80225-0165.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The regulations, codified at 30 CFR part 1204, subpart C, implement 
certain provisions of section 7 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty 
Simplification and Fairness Act of 1996 (RSFA) (Pub. L. 104-185, 110 
Stat. 1700, 1715 (Aug. 13, 1996)) and provide two options for relief: 
(1) Notification-based relief for annual reporting; and (2) other 
requested relief, as proposed by industry and approved by ONRR and the 
affected state. The regulations require ONRR to publish a list of the 
states and their decisions regarding marginal property relief by 
December 1 of each year.
    To qualify for the first relief option (notification-based relief) 
for calendar year 2011, properties must have produced less than 1,000 
barrels-of-oil-equivalent (BOE) per year for the base

[[Page 6820]]

period (July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010). Annual reporting relief 
will begin January 1, 2011, with the annual report and payment due 
February 28, 2012; or March 31, 2012, if an estimated payment is on 
file. To qualify for the second relief option (other requested relief), 
the combined equivalent production of the marginal properties during 
the base period must equal an average daily well production of less 
than 15 BOE per well per day calculated under 30 CFR 1204.4(c).
    The following table shows the states that have qualifying marginal 
properties and the states' decisions to allow one or both forms of 
relief.

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                                    Notification-based relief (less than     Request-based relief (less than 15
              State                          1,000 BOE per year)                   BOE per well per day)
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Alabama..........................  No                                      No
Arkansas.........................  Yes                                     Yes
California.......................  No                                      No
Colorado.........................  No                                      No
Kansas...........................  No                                      No
Louisiana........................  Yes                                     Yes
Michigan.........................  No                                      No
Mississippi......................  No                                      No
Montana..........................  No                                      No
Nebraska.........................  No                                      No
Nevada...........................  Yes                                     Yes
New Mexico.......................  No                                      Yes
North Dakota.....................  Yes                                     Yes
Oklahoma.........................  No                                      No
South Dakota.....................  No                                      No
Texas............................  No                                      No
Utah.............................  No                                      No
Wyoming..........................  Yes                                     No
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    Federal oil and gas properties located in all other states where a 
portion of Federal royalties is not shared with the state are eligible 
for relief if they qualify as marginal under the regulations. The ONRR 
believes this covers any exceptions under section 117(c) of RSFA (30 
U.S.C. 1726(c)). For information on how to obtain relief, please refer 
to 30 CFR 1204.205 or to the published rule, which you may view on our 
Web site at http://www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/FRNotices/AC30.htm.
    Unless the information received is proprietary data, all 
correspondence, records, or information that we receive in response to 
this notice may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552 et seq.). If applicable, please 
highlight the proprietary portions, including any supporting 
documentation, or mark the pages that contain proprietary data. 
Proprietary information is protected by the Trade Secrets Act (18 
U.S.C. 1905); FOIA, Exemption 4; and Department regulations (43 CFR 
part 2).

    Dated: February 3, 2011.
Gregory J. Gould,
Director, Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2011-2745 Filed 2-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P