[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25855-25857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10352]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Extension

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Department 
of Energy.

ACTION: Agency Information Collection Activities: Information 
Collection Extension; Notice and Request for Comments.

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

SUMMARY: EIA intends to revise and extend for three years, Form EIA-914 
``Monthly Natural Gas Production Report,'' with the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.
    The revisions include increasing the number of states for which 
natural gas production will be collected. Gas production has increased 
dramatically in a few of the states outside the current

[[Page 25856]]

EIA-914 states--for example, Pennsylvania and Colorado, both of which 
now out-produce two of the original EIA-914 areas, New Mexico and the 
Gulf of Mexico. Much of Colorado's new production is coalbed methane, 
while Pennsylvania's production is largely from the Marcellus shale 
formation. While production from unconventional sources has risen, 
production from more traditional formations has declined, particularly 
in the Gulf of Mexico and New Mexico, as the emphasis on oil production 
has increased. Pennsylvania and Colorado are representative of quite a 
few states that have demonstrated recent, large production increases. 
Thus, EIA considers it important to expand the number of states for 
which natural gas production data are collected.
    Additionally, EIA also proposes to add the collection of crude oil 
and lease condensate production data at the state level. Oil production 
in the United States has grown recently and, in some cases, 
dramatically after a long, gradual decline. However, tight formations 
have fueled a recent reversal of this trend. As recently as April 2005 
North Dakota was the tenth-largest producer of crude oil in the United 
States with less than 2 percent of U.S. production, but due to 
developments in the Bakken formation, is now the third-largest producer 
and accounted for slightly more than 12 percent of U.S. production in 
November 2013. Similarly, Texas production, which declined for many 
years, dramatically increased over the last two years as the projects 
in the Eagle Ford formation came on-line and ramped up. Increased 
production from tight formations have more than offset natural declines 
in the Gulf of Mexico, California, Alaska, and elsewhere so that 
exporting U.S. oil production has become a seriously discussed topic.
    Further, EIA proposes to collect state-level crude oil and lease 
condensate production by API gravity category. We think that it's 
important to collect oil production by API gravity to inform the 
growing discussion about exporting crude oil. Proponents of exporting 
argue that there are large amounts of light crude oil presently 
produced in the United States, too much for U.S. refineries to process. 
Opponents of exporting argue that there is far less light crude oil 
being produced. Thus, collecting crude oil production by API gravity 
categories will inform the debate. The categories have not been 
determined yet. We expect that the final set of categories will include 
``unknown,'' but we don't expect much production reported for this 
category.
    Lastly, EIA plans to explore the possibility of collecting sulfur 
content of U.S. crude oil and lease condensate production (either at 
the state level, or national level). Categories of sulfur content will 
be determined once the availability of these data becomes known.
    Comments are invited on the following issues: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) whether the proposed 
collection of crude oil and lease condensate by API gravity category is 
consistent with industry record-keeping practices, as well as general 
comments on potential respondents' ability to provide such information, 
(c) whether the potential respondents are able to provide a measure of 
the sulfur content by state, (d) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (e) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before July 7, 2014. If you anticipate difficulty in 
submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed in 
ADDRESSES as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Neal Davis. The mailing address is U.S. 
Department of Energy, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Attn: 
Neal Davis, EI-24, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20585. To ensure receipt of the comments by the due 
date, submission by email ([email protected]) is recommended. 
Alternatively, Neal Davis may be contacted by telephone at 202-586-6581 
or by fax at 202-287-1938.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the forms and instructions should be directed to Neal Davis 
at the contact information given above. Forms and instructions are also 
available on the Internet at: http://www.eia.gov/survey/notice/ngforms2015.cfm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No. 1905-0160;
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Monthly Natural Gas 
Production Report;
    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-914, ``Monthly Natural Gas Production 
Report,'' collects monthly data on the production of natural gas in 
seven geographical areas (Texas (including State offshore), Louisiana 
(including State offshore), Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, Federal Gulf 
of Mexico offshore and Other States (defined as all remaining states, 
except Alaska, in which the operator produced natural gas during the 
report month)). The data appear in the ``Monthly Natural Gas Gross 
Production Report'' on EIA's Web site and in the EIA publications, 
Monthly Energy Review, Natural Gas Annual, and Natural Gas Monthly.
    (4a) Proposed Changes to Information Collection:
    The proposed changes include:
     Changing the title from ``Monthly Natural Gas Production 
Report'' to ``Monthly Crude Oil, Lease Condensate, and Natural Gas 
Production Report.''
     In Part 2, EIA is proposing to remove several states from 
the ``Other States'' category--Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, 
Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, Utah, and West Virginia--and collect both gross 
withdrawals of natural gas and natural gas lease production volumes for 
a total of 21 states/areas including ``Other States.'' The ``Other 
States'' category will be retained, but only include the states 
Arizona, Federal California offshore, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, 
Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, 
South Dakota, and Virginia. EIA will continue to collect Alaska natural 
gas production directly from the state.
     EIA is proposing to add Part 3 to Form EIA-914. Part 3 
will collect total monthly crude oil and lease condensate production 
volumes for the 21 states/areas discussed above, including API gravity. 
Further, the production will be collected for several categories based 
on API gravity across each state. EIA plans to include a measure of the 
sulfur content (by state and API gravity) and is interested in 
assessing the availability of these data to respondents. The proposed 
categories are shown below.

[[Page 25857]]



                                                                   API Gravity Ranges
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 <=20.0   20.1 to 30.0  30.1 to 35.0  35.1 to 40.0  40.1 to 45.0  45.1 to 50.0  50.1 to 55.0       >=55.0   unknown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Note that it is expected that the ``unknown'' category will be 
rarely used by the respondent companies, typically under exceptional 
and temporary circumstances.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: 600 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual number 
of total responses is 7200. Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 
The annual estimated burden is 21,600 hours.
    (7) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.
    (8) Comments submitted in response to this notice will be 
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. 
They also will become a matter of public record.
    Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 
772(b).

    Issued in Washington, DC on April 30, 2014.
Stephen J. Harvey,
Assistant Administrator for Energy Statistics, U.S. Energy Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-10352 Filed 5-5-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P