[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 231 (Friday, November 30, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71448-71449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28935]


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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 that the Office of Natural Resources Revenue 
(ONRR) 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 the regulations 
require, ONRR 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 2013, we provide in this notice the affected 
States' decisions to allow one or both types of relief.

DATES: Effective January 1, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Adamski, Program Manager, 
Asset Valuation, at (303) 231-3410; or (303) 231-3744 via fax; or via 
email to [email protected].

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), which allows States to relieve the lessees of 
marginal properties from certain reporting, accounting, and auditing 
requirements. States make an annual determination of whether or not to 
allow relief. Two options for relief are provided: (1) Notification-
based relief for annual reporting and (2) other requested relief, as 
industry proposed and ONRR and the affected State approved. The 
regulations require ONRR to publish by December 1 of each year a list 
of the States and their decisions regarding marginal property relief.
    To qualify for the first relief option (notification-based relief) 
for calendar year 2013, properties must have

[[Page 71449]]

produced less than 1,000 barrels-of-oil-equivalent (BOE) per year for 
the base period (July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012). Annual reporting 
relief will begin January 1, 2013, with the annual report and payment 
due February 28, 2014, or March 31, 2014, 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..........................  No................  No.
Louisiana.......................  Yes...............  Yes.
Michigan........................  Yes...............  Yes.
Mississippi.....................  No................  No.
Montana.........................  No................  No.
Nebraska........................  No................  No.
Nevada..........................  No................  No.
New Mexico......................  No................  Yes.
North Dakota....................  Yes...............  Yes.
Oklahoma........................  No................  No.
South Dakota....................  No................  No.
Utah............................  No................  No.
Wyoming.........................  No................  No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 at www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/FRNotices/AC30.htm.
    Unless the information that ONRR 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. We 
protect the proprietary information under the Trade Secrets Act (18 
U.S.C. 1905); FOIA, Exemption 4 (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)); and Department 
regulations (43 CFR part 2).

     Dated: November 16, 2012.
Gregory J. Gould,
Director, Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2012-28935 Filed 11-29-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-T2-P