[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 155 (Friday, August 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39738-39739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17183]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Proposed Agency Information Collection

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: EIA requests a three-year extension, with changes, to the Oil 
and Gas Reserves System Survey Program as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This survey system includes: Form EIA-64A, 
Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids Production; Form 
EIA-23L, Annual Report of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves, County Level 
Report; and Form EIA-23S, Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas 
Reserves, Summary Level Report.

DATES: EIA must receive all comments on this proposed information 
collection no later than October 9, 2018. If you anticipate 
difficulties in submitting your comments by the deadline, contact the 
person listed in the below ADDRESSES section of this notice as soon as 
possible.

[[Page 39739]]


ADDRESSES: Send your comments to Steven Grape, U.S. Energy Information 
Administration, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, EI-24 Washington, DC 
20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Steven Grape, telephone 202-586-1868, fax at (202) 586-
4420, or by email at [email protected].

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: Renewal with changes;
    (4) Purpose: Information reported on Form EIA-23L is used to 
provide national and regional estimates on the proved reserves of crude 
oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Data collected on this form 
include proved reserves and production for crude oil, lease condensate, 
and natural gas by state and federal offshore regions. Information 
reported on Form EIA-64A is used to generate EIA's state-level and 
federal offshore estimates of dry natural gas reserves and production 
(natural gas that remains after natural gas liquids are extracted). EIA 
releases annual reserves and production estimates through its website. 
These data are also used in EIA reports concerning U.S. crude oil, 
natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves, and are incorporated in 
a number of other reports and analyses such as EIA's Annual Energy 
Review, Annual Energy Outlook, Petroleum Supply Annual, and Natural Gas 
Annual.
    Congress and other federal agencies rely on the objective analysis, 
quality, reliability, and usefulness of EIA's crude oil and natural gas 
reserves estimates. These federal agencies include: The U.S. Department 
of Energy; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Department of Interior; 
Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury; and the 
Securities and Exchange Commission. Each federal agency uses EIA's 
estimates on proved reserves for their official use to meet their data 
needs. EIA's published estimates on proved reserves of domestic crude 
oil and natural gas are essential to the development, implementation, 
and evaluation of energy policy and legislation. There are no proposed 
changes to Forms EIA-23L and EIA-23S.
    (4a) Proposed Changes to Information Collection: EIA proposes to 
collect the following additional information on Form EIA-64A, Annual 
Report of the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids Production:
     Section 2. Add Item 2.1 to collect the total outlet volume 
of residue natural gas produced and add Item 2.3 to collect the volume 
of residue natural gas sent to a pipeline. Add Item 2.4: The amount of 
electricity consumed annually at the natural gas plant. The number of 
natural gas processing plants that are 100% electrically-powered is 
increasing. Federal air quality restrictions imposed on sources of 
combustion emissions is one reason for the increasing trend in using 
electricity as a power source rather than relying on natural gas as a 
fuel for processing and other plant operations.
     Section 3.0, Add Item 3.1C: The annual total of natural 
gas liquids (NGL) reported separately by components or products 
produced at the natural gas processing plant by Area of Origin in 
Section 3 of Form EIA-64A. Currently, only the total plant NGL volume 
shown on Line 4.8 is reported by Area of Origin.
     Delete the data element Gas Shrinkage Resulting from 
Natural Gas Liquids Extracted currently shown as Item 5.0 on Form EIA-
64A. Respondents currently report their estimate of the volumes of gas 
shrinkage in millions of cubic feet (MMCF) caused from the removal of 
natural gas liquids from the natural gas received at the plant. 
Respondents will no longer need to report this information. The 
shrinkage volumes for a respondent will be calculated by EIA using the 
component data reported in Section 3.
     The burden per response for Form EIA-64A changed from 6 
hours to 4 hours. Cognitive research showed that the weighted average 
time estimate to gather and report information on the proposed modified 
new Form EIA-64A was less than 3 hours. The majority of the information 
reported on this form is information that companies customarily track 
in the normal course of their business activities. Some companies may 
take longer than 3 hours to complete Form EIA-64A so EIA extended the 
burden per response estimate to 4 hours to account for some companies 
that may require additional time.
    The mode of reporting information will also change. Operators will 
be required to log in to the EIA Data xChange Portal to report their 
information and submit Form EIA-64A. By identifying and selecting each 
plant within the portal, respondent information will be populated 
automatically in order to reduce reporting burden.
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,644;
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 1,644;
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 29,252;
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 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 is estimated to be 
$2,214,084 (29,252 burden hours times $75.69 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.
    Comments are invited on these proposed changes and: (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) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) 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.

    Statutory Authority:  15 U.S.C. 772(b), 15 U.S.C. 790(a), and 
the DOE Organization Act of 1977, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.

    Issued in Washington, DC, August 6, 2018.
Nanda Srinivasan,
Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, 
U.S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2018-17183 Filed 8-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P