[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 108 (Monday, June 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34257-34258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12001]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Extension

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EIA has submitted an information collection request for 
extension as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The 
information collection requests a three-year extension of its Oil and 
Gas Reserves System Surveys, OMB No. 1905-0057: Extension without 
changes of Form EIA-64A, Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas 
Liquids Production; Revision 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. 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 on this information collection must be received no 
later than July 6, 2022. If you anticipate that you will be submitting 
comments but find it difficult to do so within the period allowed by 
this notice, please advise the OMB Desk Officer of your intention to 
make a submission as soon as possible. The Desk Officer may be 
telephoned at (202) 881-8585.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    The forms and instructions are available on the EIA website at:

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you need additional information, 
contact Steven G. Grape, telephone (202) 586-1868, 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;

[[Page 34258]]

    (3) Type of Request: Three-year extension with changes; 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;
    (4a) Changes to Information Collection: EIA proposes to make the 
following changes to Form EIA-23L, Annual Report of Domestic Oil and 
Gas Reserves:
     Schedule A of Form EIA-23L, which collected annual proved 
reserves and production data for four fuel types (crude oil, 
associated-dissolved natural gas, non-associated natural gas, and lease 
condensate) on a county-level basis will be changed to collect annual 
proved reserves and production data for two fuel types (crude oil plus 
lease condensate, and total natural gas) on a state/state subdivision-
level basis.
     Schedule A of Form EIA-23L, which used three reservoir 
type codes (C--conventional, LP--low permeability, and SH--shale) to 
subdivide county-level proved reserves data within Schedule A will be 
changed to two separate report parts: Parts 4 and 5.
    [cir] Part 4 will list the combined total of annual proved reserves 
and production data on a state- and state subdivision-level basis
    [cir] Part 5 will separately list that portion of annual proved 
reserves and production sourced only from shale reservoirs on a state- 
and state subdivision-level basis.
     A fillable spreadsheet version of the new Form EIA-23L 
will replace the current PDF version of Form EIA-23L and its E-file 
software (the Reserves Information Gathering System (RIGS).
    Comments and Feedback are requested on these proposed changes to 
Form EIA-23L;
    (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: 19,100 hours;
    Form EIA-23L Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves, State/
State Subdivision report: 31 hours average per response (500 
operators): 15,500 hours total.
    Form EIA-23S Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas Reserves, 
Summary Level Report: 0 hours (Currently suspended).
    Form EIA-64A Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids 
Production: 6 hours (600 natural gas plant operators): 3,600 hours 
total.
    (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 $1,592,558 (19,100 burden hours 
times $83.38 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: 15 U.S.C. 772(b), 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on May 31, 2022.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and Research, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-12001 Filed 6-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P