[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 220 (Thursday, November 14, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90037-90038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26475]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_HQ_FRN_MO4500178504]
Clarifying the Implementation of Certain BLM Oil and Gas
Measurement Regulations
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed notice to lessees.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to adopt
Notice to Lessees No. 5 (NTL-5), clarifying when and how operators are
expected to comply with certain requirements in the oil and gas
measurement regulations, which became effective in January 2017.
DATES: Send your comments on the proposed NTL-5, included below and
entitled, Compliance with the Site Security, Measurement of Oil, and
Measurement of Gas, 43 CFR part 3170, to the BLM on or before December
16, 2024. The BLM is not obligated to consider any comments received
after this date in making its decision on the final NTL-5.
ADDRESSES: You may send written comments by any of the following
methods:
Mail, personal, or messenger delivery: U.S. Department of the
Interior, Director (630), Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C St. NW,
Room 5646, Washington, DC 20240, Attention: NTL-5.
Electronic mail: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Ajak, Acting Division Chief,
Fluid Minerals Division, telephone: 505-549-9654, email: [email protected],
or by mail to Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C St. NW, Room 5633,
Washington, DC 20240, for information regarding the substance of this
Notice to Lessees.
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in
the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM will respond to any relevant and
substantive public comments it receives on this proposed NTL-5 when it
ultimately publishes any final NTL-5 in the Federal Register. If the
BLM publishes a final NTL-5, it will take effect 30 days after its
publication date. Because the oil and gas measurement rules (43 CFR
subparts 3174 and 3175) became effective on January 17, 2017, operators
of onshore oil and gas leases have had sufficient time to prepare for
compliance. Further, each of the three notifications within this
proposed NTL-5 have additional, independent compliance dates--ranging
from 3 months to 1 year--depending upon the requirement. Therefore, if
the BLM publishes a final NTL-5, it will consider an effective date of
30 days following the publication of the final NTL-5 as sufficient
notice for operator compliance.
Compliance With the Site Security, Measurement of Oil, and Measurement
of Gas
43 CFR Part 3170
(Proposed NTL-5)
This proposed Notice is issued pursuant to 43 CFR 3164.2, which
authorizes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to issue a Notice to
Lessees (NTL) when necessary to implement the BLM's oil and gas
regulations. As explained in detail below, there is a need to clarify
when and how operators are expected to comply with certain requirements
in the oil and gas measurement regulations (43 CFR subparts 3174 and
3175), which became effective in January of 2017. Therefore, the BLM is
hereby notifying
[[Page 90038]]
operators of onshore Federal and Indian oil and gas leases of the
following:
(1) The BLM will, beginning 3 months after the effective date of
this NTL, no longer decline to enforce the requirements of subpart 3174
on operators of oil measurement facilities in use prior to January 17,
2017.
(2) The BLM will delay enforcement of each of the requirements for
BLM-approved equipment and software for 1 year following the BLM's
publication of applicable test procedures.
(3) In compliance with 43 CFR 3175.120(e), operators must submit
gas analysis reports to the Authorized Officer (AO) upon request until
such time as the Gas Analysis Reporting and Verification System (GARVS)
becomes available for use.
Full Implementation of 43 CFR 3174 Measurement of Oil
On November 17, 2016, the BLM published final rules in the Federal
Register pertaining to oil and gas site security and measurement (43
CFR subparts 3170, 3173, 3174, and 3175) with an effective date of
January 17, 2017 (81 FR 81516, 81 FR 81462, and 81 FR 81356). Section
3173.12(e) requires operators to apply for approval of a facility
measurement point (FMP). For permanent measurement facilities in place
prior to January 17, 2017, the rule provided operators with between 1
and 3 years to apply for an FMP, depending on the average volume of oil
and gas produced from the lease, Communitization Agreement, or unit
Participating Area. Under Sec. 3174.2(f), oil measurement facilities
in use prior to January 17, 2017, are required to comply with subpart
3174 ``on or before the date the operator is required to apply for an
FMP number under Sec. 3173.12(e).''
The BLM had anticipated that the Automated Fluid Minerals Support
System (AFMSS) module for FMP applications would be fully functional
prior to January 17, 2017. As of this date, the AFMSS FMP application
module remains unavailable. Since promulgation of the final rule,
therefore, the BLM has been unable to accept operators' electronic FMP
applications and assign FMP numbers due to competing priorities in
updating AFMSS.
In January 2017, the BLM issued Instruction Memorandum (IM) 2017-
032 (Jan. 17, 2017). Recognizing the delay in finalizing the AFMSS FMP
application module, the IM explained that: ``State and field offices
will delay implementation and enforcement of new oil measurement
regulations under 3174 as they apply to permanent oil measurement
facilities in place before January 17, 2017. The length of the delay
will be the number of days between January 17, 2017, and the date when
the BLM fully implements FMP functionality in [AFMSS]. The phase-in
periods in Sec. 3174.2(f) will apply this same delay.'' As provided in
the IM, the BLM sent a letter to operators informing stakeholders of
this delay in enforcement.
By its own terms, the IM expired on September 30, 2020, or 1,353
days after January 17, 2017. Thus, the BLM's discretionary delay of
enforcement of the subpart 3174 requirements terminated, at the latest,
on September 30, 2020.
Although the BLM remains unable to accept electronic FMP
applications, such applications are not a practical or legal
prerequisite \1\ for measurement operations in use prior to January 17,
2017, to comply with the requirements of subpart 3174. Operators of oil
measurement facilities in use prior to January 17, 2017, have been on
notice at least since the expiration of IM 2017-032--if not November
17, 2016, when the relevant final rule was published--that the
requirements of subpart 3174 would eventually apply to them by
operation of regulation and in the absence of any BLM policy of non-
enforcement. Particularly in view of this extended notice period, the
BLM will, beginning 3 months after the effective date of this NTL, no
longer decline to enforce the requirements of subpart 3174 to operators
of oil measurement facilities in use prior to January 17, 2017.
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\1\ The preamble to final subpart 3174 demonstrates that the
intent of the cross-reference in Sec. 3174.2(f) to the FMP
application deadlines in Sec. 3173.12(e) was to tether the
subpart's requirements to the date that application requirements
were effective, not to tether (practically or legally) the subpart's
requirement to the act of filing an FMP application itself. See 81
FR 81462, 81468 (Nov. 17, 2016).
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Use of Approved Equipment and Software for the Measurement of Oil and
Gas
Certain provisions in subparts 3174 and 3175 require operators to
use BLM-approved measurement equipment and software. In 2018, IM 2018-
077 explained that the BLM would delay its enforcement of the use of
approved measurement equipment ``until the BLM has executed the
prerequisite approvals of equipment and software, and operators are
afforded a reasonable opportunity to comply.'' That IM, like IM 2017-
32, expired on September 30, 2020.
In fiscal year 2024, the BLM anticipates publishing additional
recommended test procedures on the BLM website (www.blm.gov) and will
notify local and national industry groups of the availability of these
test procedures. The BLM is hereby notifying operators that, following
the effective date of this NTL, the BLM will delay enforcement of each
of the requirements for BLM-approved equipment and software for 1 year
following the BLM's publication of applicable test procedures. For
example, operators are expected to use BLM-approved Coriolis meters for
liquid measurement, the test procedure for which is currently available
on the BLM website,\2\ by no later than 1 year after [THE EFFECTIVE
DATE OF THE FINAL NTL]. Prior to a BLM approval of measurement
equipment or software, equipment or software must be installed and
operated within the manufacturer's recommendations and meet the BLM's
measurement uncertainty requirements (Sec. 3174.4 Table 1 and Sec.
3175.31(a)).
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\2\ https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2022-06/BLM_Testing_Procedure_Coriolis_Liquid.pdf.
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Gas Analysis Reporting
Under Sec. 3175.120(e), the ``operator must submit all gas
analysis reports to the BLM within 15 days of the due date for the
sample.'' Section 3175.120(f) requires operators to ``submit all gas
analysis reports and other required related information electronically
through the GARVS.''
IM 2018-077 noted delays in the development of GARVS based on
competing work priorities. At that time, the BLM anticipated that GARVS
would be available no earlier than June 2019. IM 2018-077 instructed
the BLM to require submission of the gas analysis reports, whenever
appropriate, in the interim until GARVS became available. GARVS remains
unavailable, and the BLM has no timeline for its development. In the
interim, operators must continue to submit gas analysis reports to an
AO upon request pursuant to the BLM's recordkeeping requirement at 43
CFR 3170.7(h). The BLM further notifies operators that the submission
of electronic gas analysis reports through GARVS will not be required
until 3 months following the BLM publicly announcing GARVS availability
on the BLM website.
(Authority: 43 CFR 3164.2)
David Rosenkrance,
Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals, and Realty Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-26475 Filed 11-13-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-29-P