Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Proposed collection;

comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting

comments concerning proposed revisions to the Forms EIA-23, EIA-23P,

and EIA-64A, ``Oil and Gas Reserves Surveys.''

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 7, 1997. If

you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find it

difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice,

you should advise the contact listed below of your intention to do so

as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Mr. Paul Chapman, Energy Information

Administration, (EI-443), Dallas Field Office, 1999 Bryan Street, Room

1110, Dallas, Texas 75201-6801, telephone (214) 720-6195, e-mail

([email protected]), and FAX (214) 720-6155.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or

copies of the form and instructions should be directed to Mr. Chapman

at the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

II. Current Actions

III. Request for Comments

I. Background

In order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Energy

Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-275) and the Department of

Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 95-91), the Energy Information

Administration (EIA) is obliged to carry out a central, comprehensive,

and unified energy data and information program. As part of this

program, EIA collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates

data and information related to energy resource reserves, production,

demand, and technology, and related economic and statistical

information relevant to the adequacy of energy resources to meet

demands in the near and longer term future for the Nation's economic

and social needs.

The EIA, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden (required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(Pub. L. 104-13)), conducts a presurvey consultation program to provide

the general public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity to

comment on proposed and/or continuing reporting forms. This program

helps to: prepare data requests in the desired format, minimize

reporting burden, develop clearly understandable reporting forms, and

assess the impact of collection requirements on respondents. Also, EIA

will later seek approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

for the collections under Section 3507(h) of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13, Title 44, U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Operators of crude oil and natural gas wells are the target

respondents of the Forms EIA-23 and EIA-23P, while operators of natural

gas plants are the target respondents of the Form EIA-64A. The amounts

of crude oil, associated-dissolved and nonassociated natural gas, and

lease condensate production and reserves by field are requested

annually of large and intermediate size producers on Form EIA-23. Small

operators are required to submit Form EIA-23 which is less detailed

information and most are not asked to report each year. A selected

sample of small operators provides information on production and

reserves of crude oil, natural gas and lease condensate at a State

level on the Form EIA-23.

Form EIA-23P is a postcard form used to collect information on

possible oil and gas well operators that may be included in future EIA-

23 surveys. Form EIA-64A collects information on the amount of natural

gas processed, natural gas liquids produced, the resultant shrinkage of

the natural gas, and the amount of natural gas used in processing from

natural gas plant operators.

In accordance with Section 657 of Public Law 95-91, estimates of

United States oil and gas reserves are to be reported annually. These

estimates are essential to the development, implementation, and

evaluation of energy policy and legislation. Data will be published in

the annual U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids

Reserves, and incorporated in a number of other publications and

analyses. Secondary publications which use the data include the Annual

Energy Review, Annual Energy Outlook, Petroleum Supply Annual, and

Natural Gas Annual.

[[Page 30847]]

II. Current Actions

This notice is for a proposed three-year extension through December

31, 2000, of the Forms EIA-23, ``Annual Survey of Domestic Oil and Gas

Reserves,'' EIA-23P, ``Oil and Gas Well Operator List Update Report,''

and EIA-64A, ``Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids

Production.'' Both Forms EIA-23P and EIA-64A will be extended without

modification. For operators reporting on Form EIA-23, the definitions

of proved reserves used for reporting will be modified to conform to

the new ``Society of Petroleum Engineers'' (SPE) and ``World Petroleum

Congress'' (WPC) definitions for proved reserves. These proposed

modifications reflect the recent adoption by the SPE and the WPC of new

definitions for proved reserves. The EIA strongly supported the

adoption of the new definitions and feels that their adoption will

allow the use of new estimation techniques. The new definitions are

also expected to lead to improvements in the interpretation of U.S.

proved reserves and their reliability.

In addition, respondents will be required to report the average

price used in the estimates of proved reserves and production. Because

knowledge of the oil and gas prices at the field level is essential to

successful profitable operations, it is assumed that field level price

data are readily available to large and intermediate size operators.

EIA is interested in whether small operators can report price

information at the State level. In conjunction with requesting the

price reporting, the average annual survey size will be reduced by 42

percent by surveying small operators less frequently.

III. Request for Comments

Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment

on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are

provided to assist in the preparation of responses. Please indicate to

which form(s) your comments apply.

General Issues

A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the

proper performance of the functions of the agency? Does the information

have practical utility. Practical utility is defined as the actual

usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking into account its

accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the agency's ability

to process the information it collects.

B. What enhancements can EIA make to the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be collected?

As a Potential Respondent

A. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If

not, which instructions require clarification?

B. Can data be submitted by the due date?

C. Public reporting burden for these collections is estimated to

average: for Form EIA-23, 8 hours for small operators, 62 hours for

intermediate operators, and 333 hours for large operators; 15 minutes

for operators reporting on Form EIA-23P; and 6 hours for natural gas

plants reporting on Form EIA-64A. Burden includes the total time,

effort, or financial resources expended to generate, maintain, retain,

or disclose or provide the information.

Please comment on (1) the accuracy of our estimates and (2) how the

agency could minimize the burden of the collection of information,

including the use of information technology.

D. EIA estimates that respondents will incur no additional costs

for reporting other than the hours required to complete the collection.

What is the estimated: (1) Total dollar amount annualized for capital

and start-up costs, and (2) recurring annual costs of operation and

maintenance, and purchase of services associated with this data

collection?

E. Do you know of any other Federal, State, or local agency that

collects similar data? If you do, specify the agency, the data

element(s), and the methods of collection.

As a Potential User

A. Can you use data at the levels of detail indicated on the form?

B. For what purpose would you use the data? Be specific.

C. Are there alternate sources of data and do you use them? If so,

what are their deficiencies and/or strengths?

D. For the most part, information is published by EIA in U.S.

customary units, e.g., cubic feet of natural gas, short tons of coal,

and barrels of oil. Would you prefer to see EIA publish more

information in metric units, e.g., cubic meters, metric tons, and

kilograms? If yes, please specify what information (e.g., coal

production, natural gas consumption, and crude oil imports), the metric

unit(s) of measurement preferred, and in which EIA publication(s) you

would like to see such information.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized

and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also

will become a matter of public record.

Statutory Authority: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13).

Issued in Washington, DC, May 30, 1997.

Jay H. Casselberry,

Agency Clearance Officer, Office of Statistical Standards Energy

Information Administration.

[FR Doc. 97-14712 Filed 6-4-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P