Information Requirements for Plans NTL

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OMB Control Number: 1010-xxxx

OMB Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION, AND ENFORCEMENT

NTL No. 2010-N06 Effective Date: June 18, 2010

NATIONAL NOTICE TO LESSEES AND OPERATORS OF FEDERAL

OIL AND GAS LEASES, OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF (OCS)

Information Requirements for Exploration Plans,

Development and Production Plans, and Development Operations

Coordination Documents on the OCS

Purpose

Pursuant to 30 CFR 250.213(g) an Exploration Plan (EP) must be accompanied by a blowout scenario description. 30 CFR 250.243(h) imposes the same requirement for a Development and Production Plan (DPP) and a Development and Coordination Document (DOCD).¹ Pursuant to 30 CFR 250.219 and 250.250, all plans must also be accompanied by information regarding oil spills, including calculations of your worst case discharge scenario.

In April 2008, the Gulf of Mexico Region issued NTL No. 2008-G04 (Information Requirements for Exploration Plans and Development Operations Coordination Documents in the Gulf of Mexico),² and pursuant to 30 CFR 250.201(c), limited the information required to accompany plans you submit to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEM) (formerly known as MMS) with regard to a blowout scenario and worst case discharge scenario. The purpose of this Notice to Lessees and Operators (this NTL) is to rescind the limitations set forth in NTL No. 2008-G04 regarding a blowout scenario and worst case discharge scenario, and to provide national guidance to Lessees and Operators regarding the content of the information BOEM requires in your blowout scenario and worst case discharge scenario descriptions. The BOEM will use this information, as well as other information and analyses, to comprehensively assess what changes may be needed to BOEM program-wide requirements and to inform its review of future activities under EPs, DPPs, and DOCDs.

This NTL does not apply to your plan if the only activity you wish to conduct under your plan is under an Application for Permit to Drill (APD) that was approved by the now BOEM prior to the date hereof, except that deepwater activities under an approved APD that are subject to the suspensions ordered to implement the drilling moratorium imposed by the Secretary on May 29, 2010 (NTL No. 2010-N04) are also subject to the information requirements of this NTL 2010-06.

Background

Due to the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon, the resulting deaths of 11 people, and changing conditions caused by the blowout of the BP Macondo prospect well that was being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon, the BOEM requires additional information concerning your planned activities.

Pursuant to the regulations at 30 CFR 250.284 and 250.201(b), the BOEM may require you to submit additional information necessary to evaluate your proposed or existing plan or document. In accordance with the regulations, the BOEM may also require you to provide information to demonstrate that you have planned and are prepared to conduct your proposed activities in a manner that conforms with all applicable federal laws and regulations, is safe, conforms to sound conservation practices and does not cause undue or serious harm or damage to the human, marine or coastal environment pursuant to 30 CFR 250.202. This NTL describes the information you must submit to BOEM.

The Secretary’s Safety Measures Report, dated May 27, 2010, contains recommendations for immediate and long-term requirements to improve the safety of oil and gas operations in shallow and deep waters. In light of the Safety Measures Report, the MMS (now known as BOEM) issued NTL No. 2010-N05, Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the OCS (Safety NTL). The Safety NTL requires you to submit additional safety information to BOEM.

Information Requirements

Pursuant to this NTL, you must submit the following information with your new EP, (30 CFR 250.213 and 250.219), DPP, or DOCD (30 CFR 250.243 and 250.250), or as a supplement to your previously-submitted plan:

• A blowout scenario as required by 30 CFR 250.213(g) and 250.243(h). Provide a scenario for the potential blowout of the proposed well in your plan or document that you expect will have the highest volume of liquid hydrocarbons. Include the estimated flow rate, total volume, and maximum duration of the potential blowout. Discuss the potential for the well to bridge over, the likelihood for surface intervention to stop the blowout, the availability of a rig to drill a relief well, and rig package constraints. Specify as accurately as possible the time it would take to contract for a rig, move it onsite, and drill a relief well, including the possibility of drilling a relief well from a neighboring platform or an onshore location.

• Describe the assumptions and calculations that you used to determine the volume (daily discharge rate) of your worst case discharge scenario required by 30 CFR 250.219(a)(2)(iv) (for EPs) or 30 CFR 250.250(a)(2)(iv) (for DPPs and DOCDs). Provide all assumptions you made concerning the well design, reservoir characteristics, fluid characteristics, and pressure volume temperature (PVT) characteristics; any analog reservoirs you considered in making those assumptions; an explanation of your reasons for using those analog reservoirs; and the supporting calculations and models you used to determine the daily discharge rate possible from the uncontrolled blowout portion of your worst case discharge scenario for both your proposed or approved EP, DPP, or DOCD worst-case discharge scenario and your proposed or approved regional Oil Spill Response Plan (OSRP) worst-case discharge scenario used in your comparison.

• Describe the measures you propose that would enhance your ability to prevent a blowout, to reduce the likelihood of a blowout, and conduct effective and early intervention in the event of a blowout, including your arrangements for drilling relief wells, and any other measures you propose.

Submittal of Additional Information

For the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, submit the additional information described in this NTL by mailing it to: Regional Supervisor, Field Operations Plans Section (MS 5231) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394. For the Alaska and Pacific OCS Regions, submit the additional information described in this NTL to the address and contact for the respective OCS Region that is used to submit EPs, DPPs, and DOCDs. For additional information submitted for approved plans or documents, provide the Plan Control Number of the referenced plan or document and include the Well Name for which you provided blowout and worst-case discharge scenario information.

Authority

Pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103, this NTL requires you to submit information and provides guidance on compliance with the regulations cited below:

• 30 CFR 250.106(c), concerning measures the BOEM will require to prevent damage to or waste of any natural resource, property, or the environment.

• 30 CFR 250.107, which requires you to protect health, safety, property, and the environment by performing all operations in a safe and workmanlike manner and maintaining all equipment and work areas in a safe condition.

• 30 CFR 250.186(a), which provides that you must submit information and reports as BOEM requires.

• 30 CFR 250.201, which provides that BOEM may require you to submit additional information to assist BOEM in evaluating proposed plan or document.

• 30 CFR 250.202, which requires you to demonstrate that you have planned, and are prepared to conduct, your proposed activities in a manner that conforms with applicable laws and regulations, is safe, conforms with conservation practices, and does not cause undue or serious harm to the environment.

• 30 CFR 250.213(g) and 250.243(h), which describe the blowout scenario information that must accompany an EP, DPP, or DOCD.

• 30 CFR 250.219(a)(2)(iv) and 250.250(a)(2)(iv), which describe calculated worst-case discharge spill volume information that must accompany an EP, DPP, or DOCD.

• 30 CFR 250.243, which describes the general information that must accompany a DPP or DOCD.

• 30 CFR 250.250, which describes the oil and hazardous substances spills information that must accompany your DPP or DOCD.

• 30 CFR 250.284, which provides that BOEM may require you to submit additional information and to revise your EP, DPP, or DOCD.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Statement

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) requires us to inform you that the BOEM collects this information to carry out its responsibilities under the OCS Lands Act, as amended. The BOEM will use the information to ensure safety and environmental protection on the OCS. No proprietary data are collected. This NTL references requirements already approved under 30 CFR 250 under Subpart A – 1010-0114 and Subpart B – 1010-0151. This NTL requires new hour burdens; therefore, we have submitted to the Office of Management Budget (OMB) an emergency information collection for approval of these new burden hours. Once OMB has approved this collection of information, we will reissue this NTL with the OMB control number and expiration date. We estimate the public reporting burden specifically pertaining to the new requirements in this NTL to average 15 burden hours per respondent. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Direct any comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, Mail Stop 5438, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240.

Contact

If you have any questions regarding this NTL, please contact the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region by email at [email protected]; the Pacific OCS Region at [email protected]; or the OCS Alaska Region at [email protected]

_________ __________________________

Dated Associate Director

Offshore Energy and Minerals Management

1 EPs, DPPs and DOCDs are sometimes referred to in this NTL as “plans.”

2 NTL 2008-G04 continues information limitations from NTL 2003-G17, issued in 2003.