[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64192-64193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25025]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

U.S. Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Proposed Extension

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: EIA invites public comment on the proposed three-year 
extension of the following Oil and Gas Reserves System Survey Forms, as 
required under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; extension without 
changes of Form EIA-64A, Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas 
Liquids Production; extension without changes of Form EIA-23L, Annual 
Report of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves, County Level Report; and 
continued suspension of 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 January 18, 2022. If you anticipate any 
difficulties in submitting your comments by the deadline, contact the 
person listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice as soon as 
possible.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically to [email protected] or 
mail comments to Mr. Steven Grape, EI-24, U.S. Department of Energy, 
1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, or by fax at (202) 
586-4420.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you need additional information, 
contact Mr. Steven Grape, U.S. Energy Information Administration, 
telephone (202) 586-1868, or by email at [email protected]. The 
forms and instructions are available on EIA's website at https://www.eia.gov/survey/.

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: Three year extension without changes of the 
currently approved Form EIA-64A; extension without changes of the 
currently approved Form EIA-23L; and continued suspension of collection 
of the currently approved Form EIA-23S (suspended).
    (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 the definitions of proved oil 
and gas reserves and the quality, reliability, and usefulness of 
estimates of reserves. 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. The 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 Web 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 waters. 
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 give the investing public 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, natural gas, and natural gas liquids 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, natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves, and are 
incorporated into a number of other Web reports and analyses;
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: Forms EIA-23L/23S/64A: 
1,100;
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: Forms EIA-23L/23S/
64A: 1,100;
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 24,800 hours;

Form EIA-23L Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves, County 
Level Report: 110 hours (120 large operators); 40 hours (140 medium 
operators); 15 hours (240 small operators): 22,400 hours
Form EIA-23S Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves, Summary 
Level Report: 4 hours (small operators): 0 hours (Currently suspended)
Form EIA-64A Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids 
Production: 4 hours (600 natural gas plant operators): 2,400 hours

    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
$2,024,920 (24,800 burden hours times $81.65 per hour). EIA estimates 
that respondents will have no additional costs associated with the 
surveys other than the burden hours and the maintenance of the 
information during the normal course of business.
    Comments are invited on whether or not: (a) The proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of agency 
functions, including whether the information will have a practical 
utility; (b) EIA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used, is accurate; (c) EIA can improve the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information it will collect; (d) EIA can minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on respondents, such as 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology; (e) All data items collected on Form EIA-23L are necessary 
for the proper performance of agency functions, and if not which data 
items could be removed without affecting practical utility; and (f) The 
ability to upload the Form EIA-23L data in a standard file format 
(xlsx, csv, txt, xml, ectc.) would improve data preparation and reduce 
burden compared to the current process.
    Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 772(b) and 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.


[[Page 64193]]


    Signed in Washington, DC, on November, 10, 2021.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and Research, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-25025 Filed 11-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P