[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 42 (Thursday, March 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11204-11205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04759]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

U.S. Energy Information Administration


Proposed Agency Information Collection

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

ACTION: Notice and request for OMB review and comment.

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SUMMARY: EIA has submitted an information collection request to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for extension of the following 
Oil and Gas Reserves System Survey Forms pursuant to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995: Form EIA-23L, ``Annual Survey of Domestic Oil 
and Gas Reserves (Field Version)''; Form EIA-64A, ``Annual Report of 
the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids Production''; and Form EIA-23S, 
``Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves, (Summary Version)'' 
Form EIA-23L is the only form that EIA proposes to change. There are no 
proposed changes to Forms EIA-64A and EIA-23S.
    The proposed collection will be used to prepare electronic annual 
reports of U.S. proved reserves data that fulfill EIA's congressional 
mandate to provide accurate annual estimates of U.S. proved crude oil 
and natural gas reserves. The U.S. Government also uses the resulting 
information in EIA's reports to develop national and regional estimates 
of proved reserves of domestic crude oil and natural gas to facilitate 
national energy policy decisions.

DATES: Comments regarding this collection must be received on or before 
April 4, 2016. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, 
but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by 
this notice, please advise the DOE Desk Officer at OMB of your 
intention to make a submission as soon as possible. The Desk Officer 
may be telephoned at 202-395-4718 or contacted by email at 
[email protected].

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the
DOE Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10102, 
735 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503, [email protected].
And to Steven G. Grape, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Mail 
Stop EI-24, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Mr. Grape, as listed above. The information 
collection instrument and instructions are available on the EIA Web 
site at:

Form EIA-23L, http://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-23l
Form EIA-23S, http://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-23s
Form EIA-64A, http://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-64a.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No. 1905-0057.
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Oil and Gas Reserves 
System.
    (3) Type of Request: Revision of the currently approved Form EIA-
23L; extension without changes of Form EIA-64A; and continued 
suspension of collection of the currently approved Form EIA-23S.
    (4) Purpose: In response to Public Law 95-91 Section 657, estimates 
of U.S. oil and gas reserves are to be reported annually. Many U.S. 
government agencies have an interest in proved oil and gas reserves and 
the quality, reliability, and usefulness of reserves estimates. Among 
these are the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department 
of Energy; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Department of 
Interior; Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of the Treasury; 
and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Each of these 
organizations has specific purposes for collecting, using, or 
estimating proved reserves. EIA has a congressional mandate to provide 
accurate annual estimates of U.S. proved crude oil, natural gas, and 
natural gas liquids reserves, and EIA presents annual reserves data in 
EIA reports to meet this requirement. The BOEM maintains estimates of 
proved reserves to carry out their responsibilities in leasing, 
collecting royalty payments, and regulating the activities of oil and 
gas companies on Federal lands and water. Accurate reserve estimates 
are important, as the BOEM is second only to the IRS in generating 
Federal revenue. For the IRS, proved reserves and occasionally probable 
reserves are an essential component of calculating taxes for companies 
owning or producing oil and gas. The SEC requires publicly traded 
petroleum companies to annually file a reserves statement as part of 
their 10-K filing. The basic purpose of the 10-K filing is to provide 
public investors with a clear and reliable financial basis to assess 
the relative value, as a financial asset, of a company's reserves, 
especially in comparison to other similar oil and gas companies.
    The Government also uses the resulting information to develop 
national and regional estimates of proved reserves of domestic crude 
oil and natural gas to facilitate national energy policy decisions. 
These estimates are essential to the development, implementation, and 
evaluation of energy policy and legislation. Data are used directly in 
EIA Web reports concerning U.S. crude oil and natural gas reserves, and 
are incorporated into a number of other Web reports and analyses.
    EIA proposes to make the following changes to Form EIA-23L, 
``Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves'':
     Change the title of Form EIA-23L to ``Annual Report of 
Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves (County Level)'';
     Collect additional parent company and subsidiary company 
(if applicable) information on the cover page;
     Change the title of Schedule A to ``Operated Proved 
Reserves, Production, and Related Data by County'';
     Operators will be instructed to file their proved reserves 
by county rather than by field. Line Item 2.0 will be named ``County 
Data (operated basis);''
     Line Item 2.1.4 ``Field Code'', will be changed to 
``County Name;''
     Line Item 2.1.5 ``MMS Code'' will be changed to ``Type 
Code;''
     Line Item 2.1.6. ``Field Name'' will be changed to 
``Field, Play, or Prospect Name (Optional)'';
     Line Items 2.1.9 ``water depth'' and 2.1.10 ``field 
discovery year'' will be replaced with 2.1.9 ``# of producing wells on 
December 31, [survey year]'', 2.1.10 ``# of wells completed or 
purchased [in survey year]'';
     Line Item 2.1.11, ``Prospect Name (optional) will be 
replaced with ``# of wells abandoned or sold [in survey year]''; and
     Line Item 2.1.12-15, Column (F) ``Extensions'', Column (G) 
``New Field Discoveries'', and Column (H) ``New Reservoir Discoveries 
in Old Fields'' will be replaced with Column (F) ``Extensions and 
Discoveries''.
    Comments and Feedback are requested on these proposed changes to 
Form EIA-23L. Secondary reports that use the data include EIA's Annual 
Energy Review, Annual Energy Outlook, Petroleum Supply Annual, and 
Natural Gas Annual;
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: Forms EIA-23L/23S/64A: 
1,250.


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    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: Forms EIA-23L/23S/
64A: 1,250.

    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 32,850.

Form EIA-23L Annual Report of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves (County 
Level): 36 hours per operator (320 intermediate-size operators); 97 
hours per operator (160 large operators); 13 hours per operator (170 
small operators): 29,250 hours
Form EIA-23S Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves (Summary 
Version) Report: 4 hours (small operators): 0 hours (Currently 
suspended)
Form EIA-64A ``Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids 
Production'': 6 hours per operator (600 natural gas plant operators): 
3,600 hours

    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Forms 
EIA-23L/23S/64A: EIA estimates that there are no capital and start-up 
costs associated with this data collection. The information is 
maintained in the normal course of business. The cost of burden hours 
to the respondents is estimated to be $2,365,857 (32,850 burden hours 
times $72.02 per hour). Therefore, other than the cost of burden hours, 
EIA estimates that there are no additional costs for generating, 
maintaining and providing the information.

    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, February 26, 2016.
Nanda Srinivasan,
Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, 
U.S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-04759 Filed 3-2-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P