[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 236 (Thursday, December 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76757-76758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31497]


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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.

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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)

[[Page 76758]]

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 2012, this notice provides the decisions by the affected 
states to allow one or both types of relief.

DATES: Effective January 1, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Adamski, Program Manager, 
Asset Valuation, telephone (303) 231-3410; email 
[email protected]; or mail to P.O. Box 25165, MS 63100B, 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) (30 U.S.C. 1726) 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 2012, properties must have produced less than 1,000 
barrels-of-oil-equivalent (BOE) per year for the base period (July 1, 
2010, through June 30, 2011). Annual reporting relief will begin 
January 1, 2012, with the annual report and payment due February 28, 
2013; or March 31, 2013, if you have an estimated payment 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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Notification-based     Request-based
                                  relief  (less than   relief (less than
              State                  1,000 BOE per      15 BOE per well
                                         year)             per day)
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Alabama.........................  No................  No
California......................  No................  No
Colorado........................  No................  No
Kansas..........................  Yes...............  No
Louisiana.......................  Yes...............  Yes
Michigan........................  Yes...............  Yes
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
Utah............................  No................  No
Wyoming.........................  Yes...............  No
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    Federal oil and gas properties located in all other states where 
ONRR does not share a portion of Federal royalties with the state are 
eligible for relief if they qualify as marginal under the regulations. 
See 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 page(s) 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: November 29, 2011.
Gregory J. Gould,
Director, Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2011-31497 Filed 12-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-T2-P