NTL Well Producibility Determination

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT
GULF OF MEXICO REGIONAL OFFICE

BOEM NTL No. 2013-G01

Effective Date: March 1, 2013
Reissued: June 19, 2020

NOTICE TO LESSEES AND OPERATORS
OF FEDERAL OIL AND GAS, AND SULPHUR LEASES
IN THE GULF OF MEXICO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF (OCS)
Well Producibility Determinations

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is reissuing this Notice to Lessees and
Operators (NTL) to comply with Executive Order (E.O.) 13891 of October 9, 2019, Promoting
the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents, and the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum, M-20-02, implementing the E.O.
This NTL provides information on requests for determination of well producibility for wells
drilled on OCS leases in the Gulf of Mexico and replaces NTL No. 2007-G05.
BOEM does not require you to request a determination of well producibility; a request is
optional. If you choose to submit a request for a determination of well producibility, you must
follow the procedures set out in either 30 CFR 550.115 or 550.116.
There are benefits to receiving BOEM’s positive determination of well producibility. BOEM's
determination of well producibility is required by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental
Enforcement (BSEE) if you apply to BSEE for a suspension under 30 CFR 250.171. Also, for
any lease issued before lease OCS G-22500 (Lease Sale 178), a determination of well
producibility changes the status of a lease from rental to minimum royalty. For lease OCS G22500 and all leases subsequently issued, a determination of well producibility does not change
the status of the lease from rental to minimum royalty, but the due date for rentals is moved from
the beginning to the end of the lease year.
To obtain a determination of well producibility, you should submit your written request at least
30 days prior to lease expiration. Once BOEM makes a determination that one well on a lease is
producible, it will not make further determinations of well producibility for other wells on the
lease.
Determination of Well Producibility Based on a Well Test Under 30 CFR 550.115
30 CFR 550.115 explains the procedures for determining well producibility based on a well test.
If you submitted timely, accurate, and complete data to BSEE under 30 CFR 250.1151 prior to
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submitting your request for determination of well producibility under 30 CFR 550.115, BOEM
will use the data submitted to BSEE in making its determination of well producibility and you
need not resubmit the same data to BOEM. You need only submit to BOEM the data identified
below under “Data Recommended to be Included with Every Request for a Well Producibility
Determination.” However, if you choose to, you may submit additional supporting
documentation.
Determination of Well Producibility Based on Petrophysical Data Under 30 CFR 550.116
A. 30 CFR 550.116 explains the procedures for determining well producibility based on
petrophysical data. If you submit timely, accurate, and complete data to BSEE under
30 CFR 250.742 and 250.745 prior to submitting your request for a determination of well
producibility under 30 CFR 550.116, BOEM will use the data submitted to BSEE in making
its determination and you need not resubmit the same data with your request. You need only
submit to BOEM the data identified below under “Data Recommended to be Included with
Every Request for a Well Producibility Determination.” However, if you choose to, you may
submit additional supporting documentation.
B. The criteria of 30 CFR 550.116(b), (c), and (d) determine whether a well is producible.
However, the BOEM recognizes that all geologic formations in the Gulf of Mexico do not
possess the same physical properties (e.g., low resistivity, low contrast pays, hydrates,
carbonate reservoirs, and Jurassic sandstone reservoirs) and, consequently, do not lend
themselves to one single method of log analysis. Therefore, you may request either
permission to use alternative procedures or equipment, pursuant to 30 CFR 550.141, or a
departure, pursuant to 30 CFR 550.142, which may enable BOEM to accept sound well log
interpretation techniques that demonstrate that a well would produce hydrocarbons in a
particular area, even though the well may not otherwise qualify as producible under 30 CFR
550.116(b), (c), and (d).
Data Recommended to be Included with Every Request for a Well Producibility
Determination
You should include the following data with every request for a determination of well
producibility:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Active lease number;
Area and block number;
Well name and number (and lease number if different from active lease number);
Operator name;
Date total depth (TD) was reached or date of final log run for the well;
TD of well in feet, i.e., measured depth (MD) and true vertical depth subsea (TVDSS);
Expiration date of primary term of the active lease;
API number of well;
Requested qualification type (wireline well test or petrophysical);
Hydrocarbon type: oil, gas, or condensate;
Depth to top of pay in feet (MD and TVDSS);
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12. Depth to base of pay in feet (MD and TVDSS);
13. Net thickness of continuous pay section in feet (MD and TVDSS); and
14. For a qualification based on a wireline well test and/or drill stem test, the depth of the tested
interval (MD and TVDSS), date of test, test number (if more than one test in the well), and
results.
Transmitting Your Request for a Well Producibility Determination
You may submit a request for determination of well producibility by mail, e-mail, or telefax.
Send your mail request to:
U. S. Department of the Interior
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Gulf of Mexico Regional Office, Office of Resource Evaluation
Supervisor, Petrophysical Analysis Unit, MS GM881A
New Orleans, Louisiana 70123
Send your e-mail request to: [email protected]. Send your telefax request to: (504) 736-2905.
If you submit your request by e-mail, BOEM’s Petrophysical Analysis Unit will confirm receipt
of your request by replying to your e-mail.
BOEM Determination of Well Producibility
The Supervisor of BOEM's Petrophysical Analysis Unit will send BOEM’s determination of
your well's producibility by postal mail, unless you request the results be sent by e-mail, in
which case the results will be sent by e-mail. Please include your e-mail address if you request
that the results be sent to you by e-mail.
If BOEM determines that your well is producible, it will place the lease in minimum royalty
status if the lease was issued before lease OCS G-22500 (Lease Sale 178). If the lease was
issued on or after Lease Sale 178, the lease will remain in rental status, but the due date for
rentals will be moved from the beginning to the end of the lease year.
Determinations of well producibility are effective as of the date of the determination.
Guidance Document Statement
BOEM issues NTLs as guidance documents in accordance with 30 CFR 550.103 to clarify and
provide more detail about certain BOEM regulatory requirements and to outline the
recommended information to be provided in various submittals. Under that authority, this NTL
sets forth policy on and interpretation of statutory, regulatory, lease, contractual, or plan approval
provisions to provide a clear and consistent approach for complying with those provisions If you
wish to use an alternate method for compliance, you are encouraged to get feedback from BOEM
staff on the adequacy of your proposal to comply with the regulation.

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Except to the extent that provisions of this NTL derive from requirements established by statute,
regulation or by a provision in the lease, they do not have the force and effect of law and are not
meant to bind the public in any way. This NTL is intended only to provide clarity to the public
regarding existing requirements under the law.
While this NTL includes recommendations and guidance, the recommendation and guidance
provisions may be made mandatory through a lease stipulation or condition of approval from
BOEM or the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). If you are issued a
plan, permit or other authorization from BOEM or BSEE with a condition of approval, or a lease
with a stipulation, requiring compliance with this NTL or identified portions thereof, you must
implement those portions or all aspects of the NTL, if particular aspects are not singled out in the
stipulation or condition of approval. Under such circumstances, you must implement and
comply with the NTL (or identified portions thereof) regardless of whether the terms within the
NTL would otherwise be a recommendation or request (e.g., use of the term “should” in the NTL
will be considered “must” if required by the lease stipulation or condition of approval).
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) Statement
This NTL provides clarification, description, or interpretation of requirements contained in 30
CFR 550, Subpart A and references requirements contained in 30 CFR 250, Subparts A, D, and K.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB Control Number. OMB has approved the information collection requirements in these
regulations under OMB control numbers 1010-0114, 1014-0022, 1014-0018, and 1014-0019. This
NTL does not impose additional information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this NTL, please contact the BOEM Office of Resource
Evaluation, Petrophysical Analysis Unit, at (504) 731-7832.

MICHAEL
CELATA

Digitally signed by
MICHAEL CELATA
Date: 2020.06.19
12:52:00 -05'00'

Michael A. Celata
Regional Director, Gulf of Mexico Regional Office
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Department of Interior Regions 1, 2, 4 and 6

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