[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8844-8852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-4372]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of
Management and Budget Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, DOI.
ACTION: Notice of information collection solicitation and public
meetings.
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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Minerals
Management Service (MMS) is soliciting comments on revising an existing
information collection, Production Accounting and Auditing Reports, the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1010-0040, which
expires on July 31, 2001. MMS is also giving notice of two public
meetings concerning oil and gas production reporting changes.
FORMS: MMS-3160, MMS-4054, MMS-4055, MMS-4056, MMS-4058.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before April 26, 1999.
MMS will hold two public meetings about the proposed production
reporting changes on March 11, 1999, in Houston, Texas, and on March
17, 1999, in Lakewood, Colorado.
ADDRESSES: Comments sent via the U.S. Postal Service should be sent to
Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, Rules and
Publications Staff, P.O. Box 25165, MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225-
0165; courier address is Building 85, Room A613, Denver Federal Center,
Denver, Colorado 80225; E-mail address is RMP.comments@mms.gov. The
time and location for each public meeting is:
Houston--March 11, 1999, 1-5 p.m. Central Standard Time, Houston
Compliance Division Office, 4141 North Sam Houston Parkway East,
Houston, Texas 77032, Telephone Number (281) 987-6802
Denver March 17, 1999, 1-5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, Minerals
Management Service, Denver Federal Center, Building 85, West 6th Avenue
and Kipling Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215, Telephone Number (303)
231-3585
(Access to the Denver Federal Center will require the presentation of a
picture identification.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beth Ann Danford, Production
Accounting Branch, Royalty Management Program (RMP), phone (303) 231-
3522, FAX (303) 231-3700, e-mail Beth.Danford@mms.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We are seeking your comments, both positive
and negative, on our proposed changes for each oil and gas production
form. Do you have objections to any of our proposed changes? What, if
any, problems will the elimination of the Monthly Report of Operations,
Form MMS-3160, for Onshore Federal and Indian oil and gas properties
cause industry? Is this the best option for MMS to collect accurate and
timely data for gallons per thousand cubic feet of gas (GPM) and
Methane Mol percentage? Is it beneficial to industry to combine the Oil
and Gas Operations Report (OGOR), Parts B and C? If you do have
objections, what alternative(s) would you suggest? Can we enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information we collect? Can we
lessen the information collection burden on the respondents by using
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology?
The public meetings will be open to the public to discuss the
proposed reporting changes. We encourage members of the public to
attend these meetings. Those wishing to make formal presentations
should sign up upon arrival. The sign-up sheet will determine the order
of speakers. For building security measures, each person will be
required to sign in and may be required to present a picture
identification.
Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, are
available for public review during regular business hours and placed on
our web site at http://www.rmp.mms.gov/library/readroom/readrm.htm.
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address
from the rulemaking record, which we will honor to the extent allowable
by law. There may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the
rulemaking record a respondent's identity, as allowable by the law. If
you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this
prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not
consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
MMS is responsible for ensuring that all revenues from Federal and
Indian mineral properties are efficiently, effectively, and accurately
collected, accounted for, verified, and disbursed to appropriate
recipients in a timely manner. These revenues amount to more than $4.5
billion annually. In addition to a broad range of financial services,
we also operate a comprehensive compliance strategy that includes an
automated compliance verification program to validate the accuracy and
timeliness of revenues paid and an audit program staffed by MMS, State,
and Tribal auditors.
In April 1996, we undertook a compliance reengineering initiative
to examine the current compliance strategy and determine the best
approach for accomplishing future goals and objectives. The principal
reengineering objective was to define and implement a new compliance
strategy that satisfied, in the most cost-effective manner possible,
the compliance program's primary purpose of ensuring that Federal and
Indian mineral property revenues were accurately and timely paid.
In August 1996, the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and
Fairness Act of 1996 (RSFA) was enacted into law. This law amended the
Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982, the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act, and the Mineral Leasing Act. RSFA
significantly changed many of our historical operating assumptions as
well as some fundamental Federal oil and gas mineral revenue financial
activities. We needed to immediately change some of our procedures and
processes to implement RSFA, but we also needed to reassess our long-
term strategies, our business processes, and improve and modernize our
ADP systems to become more cost-effective and responsive to our
customers. Therefore, we decided to conduct an in-depth reengineering
of all of our core business processes.
A reengineering design team analyzed current information reporting
requirements to confirm the presence of data needed to support future
RMP processes. Building upon a royalty and production reporting study
completed in May 1996, by the Royalty Policy Committee (RPC), the
design team identified opportunities for decreasing reporting burden,
avoiding data duplication, decreasing error rates, and increasing
processing efficiency. They critically analyzed the information
collected by each royalty and production report to determine: Is it
necessary to collect this information, and how will it be used? Will
this information support reengineered business processes? Can this
information be obtained or utilized more efficiently?
The design team recommended incorporating the RPC recommendations
including eliminating some reports, streamlining the required data
elements
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on other reports, and modifying some reports. The RPC estimated savings
for the RMP to be in the range of 1 to 1.5 million dollars per year. If
these proposals are adopted, they will significantly reduce the volume
of lines reported and processed, minimize errors and related error
correction workload, simplify reporting, and lower costs for both oil
and gas reporters and RMP. These reporting changes (for both royalty
and production) are essential to achieving an end-to-end compliance and
asset management core business process. We are seeking your comments on
the proposed changes presented and described below related to
production reporting for Federal and Indian oil and gas properties. We
consistently made these changes on the proposed reporting forms which
are included at the end of this notice. In the report identification
area, we renamed ``Report Period'' to ``Production Month'' and
eliminated ``Authorizing Name'' and ``Title'' from the report
authorization area. Implementation of all proposed reporting changes is
projected for September 2001.
We envision that operators will have the option, for all production
reporting forms, to report via user-friendly templates or Internet
interfaces with pull down menus. This should be especially beneficial
to the smaller operators by eliminating reporting complexity and
reducing reporting time burden or the need to learn codes.
Monthly Report of Operations, Form MMS-3160
Currently, most operators of onshore properties report their
production on Form MMS-3160. Some onshore operators and all offshore
operators report their production on OGOR, Form MMS-4054-A, B and C.
MMS and those reporters that have production, both offshore and
onshore, must currently maintain and support two separate production
reporting systems. We believe it is more efficient for all parties to
have one system for production reporting. Therefore, we propose that
the Form MMS-3160 be eliminated and that reporters, whether their
production is onshore or offshore, use the revised draft OGOR, Form
MMS-4054 A & B, as further discussed below. We included a revised draft
of this form at the end of this notice.
Oil and Gas Operations Report (OGOR), Form MMS-4054
The OGOR may appear to be more complex than the Form MMS-3160;
however, they are quite similar. Essentially the same data elements are
being collected on both forms. The proposed OGOR eliminates several
data fields currently required on the Form MMS-3160. However, under the
PRA, the following elements are not on the proposed OGOR, since this
information is obtained through other sources:
--Field Name;
--Unit Name;
--Participating Area;
--County Name;
--State Code;
--Well Location Section Qtr Qtr;
--Well Location Township;
--Well Location Range; and
--Address.
Because the proposed OGOR was designed to accommodate both onshore
and offshore reporting, it contains more data fields than the Form MMS-
3160. However, many of these fields will either be system calculated
(column totals) or will not be required for onshore reporters (metering
points and facility numbers).
The current Form MMS-3160 identifies production disposition for
only the seven most common situations preprinted on the form. All other
dispositions are reported in the ``Other'' field, with explanations in
the ``Comments'' field. This weakness in the form design creates a
burden on industry to provide supplemental information in response to
MMS system exception reports.
We propose to provide onshore reporters with the ability to select
more disposition codes than currently provided on the Form MMS-3160. To
keep the reporting simple, we will provide templates or Internet
interfaces with pull-down menus to allow the small reporters to select
the narrative response they are accustomed to reporting on the Form
MMS-3160. RMP's system/software will automatically populate the
appropriate two-digit disposition code.
The reporting impact will be almost transparent to the onshore
reporter, and this change will allow our system to automatically
resolve exceptions.
Adjustments to oil reported in inventory are also currently
reported in the ``Other'' field on the Form MMS-3160. These adjustments
will also be identified by pull-down menus for simplified reporting on
the proposed OGOR. More accurate disposition data should also assist
Bureau of Land and Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the States
in their production verification efforts.
One additional element ``Product Code'' will be required on the
proposed OGOR-B. Due to the space limitations, the separate product
volume fields that currently exist, had to be reduced to one field. A
two digit ``Product Code'' was added to identify the product. Values
will be limited to three options, 01 (Oil/Condensate), 04 (Gas), and 30
(Water), and will be accessible by a pull-down menu.
The impact to operators using this revised format to submit
information will be minimal. MMS will provide operators with a user-
friendly template/Internet interface that will guide them through
completing all required data elements. Also, the few large operators
that are not currently reporting on the OGOR will have the option of
using the RMP template or redesigning their own system.
The OGOR is currently a three part form (OGOR-A, Well Production;
OGOR-B, Production Disposition; and OGOR-C, Product Sales from
Facility). We propose to adopt the RPC recommendation to reduce the
well status code reported on the OGOR-A from up to 13 digits, down to 4
digits. We also propose that the data elements captured on the OGOR-C
be combined with those on the proposed OGOR-B. Common elements on both
will be eliminated. The resultant proposed OGOR-B will report both
disposition and inventory data for a property. To make room on the
proposed OGOR-B, three disposition volume columns (Oil, Gas, and Water)
are consolidated into one disposition volume column. We added a two-
digit Product Code column to enable RMP to continue to account for
disposition volumes by product.
A main premise of the reengineering effort is to analyze all
reported elements at one time, and thereby reduce the number of
contacts with industry for exception resolution. To accomplish this
goal, we must be able to accurately allocate volumes of processed gas
and related natural gas liquids (NGLs) to the property level. The
minimum data elements necessary to make these allocation calculations
are GPM and Methane Mol percentage at the property level. In lieu of
requesting these data elements on a separate Gas Analysis Report (GAR),
we feel it is less burdensome to add these two fields to the proposed
OGOR-B and instruct operators to populate these fields when the data
last reported has changed. Accurate and timely reporting of these
fields should eliminate the need for property operators to file a
modified/amended OGOR-B and/or a GAR, except for specific exception
resolution situations.
Currently, modifications to OGOR reports are made by deleting the
original reported line and adding the new line (Delete/Add Method).
Some companies expressed concern that their systems are
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not compatible with this process and to file a total replacement report
which will overlay the original report. We propose that our
reengineered system be flexible enough to allow a company to choose the
modification method that best meets each company's system capabilities.
Gas Analysis Report (GAR), Form MMS-4055
The GAR is currently used to report gas analysis data regarding the
composition of OCS Federal lease gas production at the facility
measurement point (FMP). It is used by lessees and gas plant operators
to allocate residue gas and gas plant products to contributing
properties. We propose that GPM and Methane Mol percentage be reported
on the proposed OGOR-B at the property/FMP level when new samples are
taken and/or the data last reported has changed. This eliminates
collecting monthly GARs from the OCS property operators and removes the
burden of reporting some 30-plus data elements. The GAR, in its current
approved format, will only be requested on an as-needed basis when the
reasonableness of residue gas and NGL allocations is in question.
Gas Plant Operations Report (GPOR), Form MMS-4056
The GPOR is currently required from a few onshore gas plants
operators and from operators that process natural gas produced from OCS
Federal oil and gas properties. It is used to verify that property
level volume allocations are reasonable. We propose to simplify the
form in several aspects. A draft revised Form MMS-4056 is included at
the end of this notice. We have eliminated the analysis section of the
current report (30-plus data elements). In lieu of the analysis data,
we will require two additional data elements relative to field volumes.
We added an element called ``Field Btu'' and will clarify that the
existing Btu field is for residue gas. We also added an element called
``Field Methane Mol %.'' Component product volumes will still be
required but only for the most common components as identified on the
form. That is, scrubber condensate (reported in gallons instead of
barrels), natural gas liquids (Gallons), carbon dioxide (MCF), nitrogen
(MCF), helium (MCF), and sulfur (Long Tons). The pressure base for all
elements reported on the GPOR will be defined as 14.73 psia. We propose
that the simplified GPOR be required monthly from each operator of a
gas plant that processes gas produced on OCS properties. In specific
instances, the GPOR may be required from onshore gas plants.
Production Allocation Schedule Report (PASR), Form MMS-4058
The PASR is currently required only for OCS Federal properties. We
propose to simplify it by removing the ``Product Code'' field from the
Report Identification Area, by removing the ``Delivered Production
Volumes'' column, and by removing the ``Beginning and Ending
Inventory'' fields from the body of the current report. A draft revised
Form MMS-4058 is included at the end of this notice. Three optional
fields were added at the request of industry representatives. A one-
character field to identify injector type, ``Operator Facility Name/
Location,'' and ``Operator/Area/Block'' will each be optional. The
number of detail lines available for reporting was also increased at
the request of industry.
Reporting Burden
The reporting burden for the Form MMS-3160 is currently estimated
at 7 minutes per report when electronically completed and 15 minutes
when manually completed. The estimate for the GAR is currently 15
minutes per report. If the Form MMS-3160 and GAR are eliminated and all
onshore properties are reported on the proposed OGOR A & B, we
anticipate that the reporting burden will be approximately the same as
for the Form MMS-3160. As explained in this Notice, many of the data
elements on the proposed OGOR are optional for onshore reporters.
Additionally, static information, such as well location and reporter
address which is required on the Form MMS-3160, is not required on the
proposed OGOR.
The reporting burden for the current OGOR is 15 minutes when
electronically completed and 30 minutes when manually completed. We
believe this burden will remain unchanged if the proposed OGOR is
implemented. However, allowing reporters the option to ``modify'' or
``amend'' their reports may help ease the reporting burden for some
parties.
The current reporting burden for the GPOR is estimated at 30
minutes per report. We estimate that the proposed GPOR will require 3
minutes per report when electronically completed and 5 minutes when
manually completed.
The current reporting burden estimate for the PASR is 15 minutes
per report. We estimate that the proposed PASR will require 7 minutes
per report when electronically completed and 15 minutes per report when
manually completed.
Dated: February 12, 1999.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Royalty Management.
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
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[FR Doc. 99-4372 Filed 2-22-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-C
