[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 31, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48759-48760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18750]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLHQ310000.L13100000.PP0000.21X]


Notice Regarding Use of Truck-Mounted Coriolis Meters

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of clarification.

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SUMMARY: This notice clarifies the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) 
position on the use of truck-mounted Coriolis (TMC) meters under the 
BLM's oil measurement regulations published on November 17, 2016.

DATES: This interpretation takes effect on August 31, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Eagle, Production Management 
Team Lead for Division of Fluid Minerals, Bureau of Land Management, 
Headquarters Office, 301 Dinosaur Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87508; phone 907-
538-2300; email [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 to contact Ms. Eagle. The FRS is available 24 hours a 
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question. You will receive a 
reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice clarifies the BLM's position on 
the use of TMC meters under its oil measurement regulations found at 43 
CFR subpart 3174. Although the preamble to the final rule establishing 
the oil measurement regulations indicated that TMC meters were not 
authorized, such an interpretation is not necessarily consistent with 
the plain language of the regulations.
    Today, the BLM is resolving this inconsistency by adopting an 
interpretation of the oil measurement regulations that allows for the 
use of TMC meters if such use is conducted in accordance with the 
requirements for a Coriolis measurement system (CMS).
    This clarification of the BLM's oil measurement regulations will 
maintain the efficacy of the regulations in ensuring measurement 
accuracy and a fair return to the American public.
    Background: Measurement of oil by TMC meters involves connecting a 
flexible hose from a truck to the sales valve on an oil storage tank. 
The seal on the sales valve is then broken, allowing oil to flow from 
the tank to the truck. As the oil enters the truck, it is measured by a 
Coriolis meter. When the oil transfer is complete, the sales valve at 
the tank is sealed and the hose is walked-back to the truck, which 
forces the last of the oil through the meter.
    Oil measurement from Federal and Indian mineral leases was governed 
by BLM's Onshore Order No. 4 (54 FR 8086 (Feb. 24, 1989)) from 1989 to 
January 2017. TMC meters were not an authorized method of measurement 
under Onshore Order No. 4. However, at least one BLM Field Office 
(North Dakota) issued variances to allow for the use of TMC meters 
beginning in July 2004. A November 2008 BLM Instruction Memorandum (IM) 
explained that, although ``the use of truck mounted meters for 
measuring oil from tanks in lieu of tank gauging is a Best Management 
Practice (BMP) for oil measurement,'' TMC meters ``must be proven to be 
at least as accurate as the standards set in (Onshore Order 4)'' before 
an exception from Onshore Order No. 4 can be issued.\1\
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    \1\ IM 2009-027, ``The Feasibility Use of Truck Mounted Meters 
for Oil Measurement Onshore'' (Nov. 26, 2008).
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    Prompted by external and internal oversight reviews finding many of 
the BLM's production measurement and accountability policies to be 
outdated and inconsistently applied, the BLM promulgated new site 
security, oil measurement, and gas measurement regulations in November 
2016. The new oil measurement regulations were codified as subpart 3174 
of a new part 3170 in Title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations (81 
FR 81462 (Nov. 17, 2016)).
    Under subpart 3174, three methods of oil measurement are 
authorized: Measurement by tank gauging,\2\ measurement by a lease 
automatic custody transfer (LACT) system,\3\ and measurement by a 
CMS.\4\ Section 3174.4

[[Page 48760]]

sets forth specific measurement performance requirements with respect 
to uncertainty, bias, and verifiability that apply to all measurement 
methods under subpart 3174. Additional requirements specific to 
measurement by a CMS are detailed in Sec. Sec.  3174.9 and 3174.10.
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    \2\ 43 CFR 3174.5, 3174.6.
    \3\ 43 CFR 3174.7, 3174.8.
    \4\ 43 CFR 3174.9, 3174.10.
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    Subpart 3174 defines a ``Coriolis measurement system (CMS)'' as ``a 
metering system using a Coriolis meter in conjunction with a tertiary 
device, pressure transducer, and temperature transducer in order to 
derive and report gross standard oil volume. A CMS system provides 
real-time, on-line measurement of oil.'' \5\
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    \5\ 43 CFR 3174.1(a). ``Tertiary device'' means, ``for a CMS, 
the flow computer and associated memory, calculation, and display 
functions.'' Id.
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    Section 3174.9 sets forth a number of ``general requirements'' for 
a CMS: The CMS must meet the performance requirements of Sec.  3174.4; 
the specific make, model, and size of the Coriolis meter and associated 
software must have been reviewed and approved by the BLM's Production 
Measurement Team (PMT); the CMS must be ``proven'' in accordance with 
Sec.  3174.11; measurement tickets must be completed under Sec.  
3174.12(b); the CMS must be composed of specific components meeting 
specified requirements; API oil gravity must be reported using a 
specified method; and, net standard volume must be calculated in 
accordance with certain API guidelines. Section 3174.10 contains CMS 
operating requirements pertaining to minimum electronic pulse levels, 
meter specifications, totalizers, meter zero value verification, 
required on-site information, audit trails, and data protection.
    The subpart 3174 regulations do not specifically address the use of 
TMC meters. However, the preamble to the final rule did address TMC 
meters as follows:

    One commenter said the final rule should allow operators to use 
truck-mounted CMS and submitted summarized data to support their 
view. The summarized data indicates significant differences between 
manual-gauged volumes and truck-mounted Coriolis-metered volumes. A 
summary of these volume differences indicated that the truck-mounted 
Coriolis meter measured as much as 22.44 bbl less that [sic] the 
manual gauge measured. Missing from the data is the volume of the 
entire load. The BLM needs this information to understand how 
significant these variations are. The data also indicates 
significant differences in measured oil temperature (as much as 23 
[deg]F) and gravity (as much as 5 degrees) when compared to manual 
methods. The commenter did not explain these differences or explain 
or justify the data submitted. The BLM decided not to include the 
use of truck-mounted Coriolis metering in the final rule. Operators 
may seek approval to use the truck-mounted option through the PMT 
approval process, which is outlined in Sec.  3174.13. The rule was 
not changed based on this comment.

81 FR 81485.

    Thus, in the preamble, the BLM expressed an intent not to authorize 
the use of TMC meters as a CMS, and implicitly categorized TMC meters 
as a ``method of oil measurement other than tank gauging, LACT system, 
or CMS'' that requires prior BLM approval.\6\
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    \6\ Subpart 3174 allows for a ``method of oil measurement other 
than tank gauging, LACT system, or CMS'' to be used where it has 
been approved the by the BLM. 43 CFR 3174.13.
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Discussion

    The BLM is revising the position it took regarding TMC meters, as 
described in the final rule preamble language described earlier, 
because it believes that the text of subpart 3174 supports an 
interpretation that allows for the use of TMC meters. Because TMC 
meters involve the use of ``a Coriolis meter in conjunction with a 
tertiary device, pressure transducer, and temperature transducer in 
order to derive and report gross standard volume of oil,'' and 
``provides real-time, on-line measurement of oil,'' they meet the 
definition of a CMS in Sec.  3174.1. And, TMC meters can comply with 
subpart 3174's requirements for a CMS. In particular, TMC meters are 
capable of meeting the specific performance requirements for 
uncertainty, bias, and verifiability set forth in Sec.  3174.4 (as 
required by Sec.  3174.9(a)). The BLM also believes that TMC meters are 
capable of complying with Sec.  3179.9, which prescribes ``general 
requirements and components'' for a CMS, and Sec.  3179.10, which sets 
forth the ``operating requirements'' for a CMS. Therefore, after 
considering TMC meters in light of the plain text of subpart 3174, the 
BLM has concluded that TMC meters are a type of a CMS and thus are an 
acceptable method of oil measurement as long as the TMC meters meet the 
requirements of subpart 3174.
    The BLM acknowledges that the preamble to the 3174 regulations 
stated that the BLM was not including TMC meters in the final rule and 
that operators could seek BLM approval of TMC meters through the PMT 
approval process. The BLM no longer agrees with that interpretation of 
subpart 3174. In the first instance, while the preamble to a rule may 
be used to inform the proper interpretation of ambiguous regulation 
text, it cannot override the regulation's plain meaning. See Wyoming 
Outdoor Council v. U.S. Forest Service, 165 F.3d 43, 53 (D.C. Cir. 
1999) (noting that ``language in the preamble of a regulation is not 
controlling over the language of the regulation itself''); BHP Minerals 
International, Inc. et al, 139 IBLA 269, 310 (1997) (``Where there is a 
conflict between `intent' as expressed in a preamble and as ultimately 
explicated in the actual language of the regulation, it is the language 
of the regulation which is determinative.''). As explained earlier, the 
plain text of subpart 3174 indicates that TMC meters are a type of a 
CMS, and the text of the regulation should control. In addition, the 
BLM has reconsidered the rationale underlying the interpretation 
espoused in the preamble. The view of TMC meters expressed in that 
preamble passage appears to be inconsistent with the view expressed by 
the BLM in the 2008 IM stating that ``the use of truck mounted meters 
for measuring oil from tanks in lieu of tank gauging is a Best 
Management Practice (BMP) for oil measurement.'' With respect to the 
measurement data analyzed, the preamble passage does not address the 
possibility that the difference in results might be attributable to TMC 
meters' measuring capacity being more accurate than manual tank 
gauging. It would seem incongruous to conclude that measurement by a 
truck-mounted Coriolis meter would be unacceptably inaccurate where the 
BLM would accept measurement by the same Coriolis meter in a stationary 
CMS. For the foregoing reasons, the BLM is now clarifying that it 
interprets subpart 3174 as allowing for the use of TMC meters, as long 
as such use is conducted in accordance with the subpart 3174 
requirements for a CMS.

(Authority: 30 U.S.C. 189; 30 U.S.C. 1751(a), 43 CFR 3170.1)

Rebecca Good,
Acting Chief, Division of Fluid Minerals.
[FR Doc. 2021-18750 Filed 8-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P