Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs) are formal documents that provide clarification, description, or interpretation of a regulation or OCS standard; provide guidelines on the implementation of a special lease stipulation or regional requirement; provide a better understanding of the scope and meaning of a regulation by explaining BSEE interpretation of a requirement; or transmit administrative information such as current telephone listings and a change in BSEE personnel or office address. Letters to Lessees and Operators (LTLs) and Information to Lessees and Operators (ITLs) are also formal documents that provide additional information and clarification, or interpretation of a regulation, OCS standard, or regional requirement, or provide a better understanding of the scope and meaning of a regulation by explaining BSEE interpretation of a requirement.
To view expired or superseded NTLs, select a different NTL status and select submit.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and supersedes NTL No. 2003-G12, effective July 23, 2003, on this subject. It clarifies the procedures for you to provide evacuation statistics and deletes one of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) contacts.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators is a reminder that, pursuant to 30 CFR 203.48, lessees of shallow-water leases issued with deep gas royalty relief provisions may exercise an option to replace these provisions with the deep gas royalty relief provisions in 30 CFR 203.0 and 30 CFR 203.40 through 203.47. Pursuant to 30 CFR 203.48(b), a written notification of your decision must be sent to the Regional Supervisor for Production and Development before September 1, 2004, or 180 days after your lease is issued, whichever is later.
For shallow-water leases issued from 2001 through 2003, the royalty suspension provisions in the lease instrument define deep gas as any gas production from a completion in a new gas reservoir (one not previously produced on any current lease) with the top of the perforated interval 15,000 feet or greater subsea. The reference to “completion” in this definition includes completions in both new and sidetrack wells. Accordingly, the lease instrument grants a 20 BCF royalty suspension volume (RSV) not only to new wells, but also to sidetrack wells.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE GULF OF MEXICO OCS REGION NTL No. 2004-G-07 (Addendum 1) Effective Date: April 20, 2004
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) supersedes N1L Nos. 97-06, 98-18 and restates addresses in 98-18 (Addendum 1). In this NTL, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) defines the new procedures on how lessees/operators submit well records required by 30 CFR §§ 250.468 and 469, specifying the well records you must submit; the delinquent dates of the various well records; and the correct locations where you must send these well records.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 to establish and implement the eWell Permitting and Reporting System. Various Minerals Management Service (MMS) regulations require you to submit the following forms to request approval to conduct well activities and to notify the MMS about well activities you have already completed.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 to provide guidance and clarification on when you must shut in producible wells during rig moves. The regulation at 30 CFR 250.406(b) requires you to shut in all producible wells located in the affected wellbay below the surface and at the wellhead when you (1) move a drilling rig or related equipment on or off a platform, (2) move or skid a drilling unit between wells on a platform, or (3) move a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) within 500 feet of a platform.
The final rule (30 CFR 203.0 and 30 CFR 203.40-47) suspends royalty on deep gas production volumes, including gas associated with oil production, reported on the Oil and Gas Operations Report, Part A (OGOR-A). Section 203.42(f) of the rule indicates that the suspension does not apply to oil and condensate volumes.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 2003-G13 dated July 28, 2003. It provides guidelines for flaring and venting approvals and updated personnel contacts.
1The Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) is issuing this Notice to Lessees and Operators and Pipeline Right-of-way Holders (NTL) pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 to provide and consolidate guidance for the avoidance and protection of biologically sensitive features and areas (i.e., topographic features, pinnacles, live bottoms (low-relief features), and other potentially sensitive biological features) when conducting Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) operations in water depths less than 400 meters (1,312 feet) in the Gulf of Mexico. This NTL supersedes and replaces NTL No. 98-12, Implementation of Consistent Biological Stipulation Measures in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico, effective August 10, 1998, and NTL No. 99-G16, Live-Bottom Surveys and Reports, effective July 8, 1999. For guidance on avoiding biologically sensitive areas in water depths 400 meters (1,312 feet) or greater, refer to NTL No. 2000-G20, Deepwater Chemosynthetic Communities, effective December 6, 2000.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 to establish and implement a current monitoring and oceanographic data sharing program for deepwater operations
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and standardizes the weekly reporting period for submitting Form MMS-133, Well Activity Report (WAR) for well operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Pursuant to 30 CFR 250.468(b), you must submit a WAR to report ongoing well operations to the appropriate District Supervisor on a weekly basis.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued NTL No. 2003-G08, effective June 5, 2003, pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103, to explain how you implement seismic survey mitigation measures, including special ramp-up procedures and protected species observation and reporting. That NTL applied to all seismic operations throughout the Gulf of Mexico OCS in waters greater than 200 m (656 ft) in depth. The measures contained therein apply to all on-lease seismic surveys you conduct under 30 CFR 250.201 and all off-lease seismic surveys you conduct under 30 CFR 251.
Beginning in 2001, shallow-water (less than 200 meters) leases in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico were issued with royalty suspension provisions for deep gas production. For a lease to earn a royalty suspension volume of 20 BCF of deep gas production, a well must be drilled to and completed in a new deep gas reservoir with production commencing within the first 5 years of the life of the lease. Deep gas is defined as any gas production from a completion with the top of the perforated interval 15,000 feet or greater TVD subsea.
The 2004 Minerals Management Service (MMS) Industry Awards Program and Luncheon are scheduled for Tuesday, April 27, 2004, at the Inter-Continental in Houston, Texas. This is the 21st year that MMS has honored outstanding companies for their exemplary safety and pollution prevention records, and the sixth year for our industry awards program.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and provides links to the addresses and telephone numbers of the individual command headquarters for the military warning and water test areas in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) in June 1998 implemented the gas production verification program. The Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) will continue to focus only on verifying production for the sales (royalty) meters. Under the requirements of 30 CFR 250.1203(b)(6) and (b)(8), you must provide MMS (when requested) with copies of the monthly gas volume statements for those meters used to determine gas sold and/or transferred. Unlike the previous sampling process, the Regional Supervisor is now requesting monthly gas volume statements from all operators starting January 2004 to be submitted on a monthly basis. You must submit these statements by the last day of the month following production to Mr. Paul Marsh at 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70123. Please also provide the name and telephone number of your contact person. Failure to submit your gas volume statements in the time frame requested will result in the issuance of an Incident of Non-Compliance.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 2002-G06, effective July 1, 2002. It provides a new schedule for the Eastern Gulf of Mexico drilling window program. Drilling Window Program The Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR), after consultation with the U.S. Air Force, established a drilling window program in 1991 for exploratory activities on oil and gas leases that were obtained through Lease Sales Nos. 79, 94, and 116 and that contain Lease Stipulation No. 5.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 2002-G08, effective August 29, 2002. The table below summarizes the changes. The purpose of this NTL is to provide guidance on preparing Exploration Plans (EP’s) and Development Operations Coordination Documents (DOCD’s) that are required by current 30 CFR 250, Subpart B.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) regulations at 30 CFR 250.900(g) require that all OCS platforms be designed, fabricated, and installed in accordance with the provisions of the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing, and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms – Working Stress Design, Twenty-First Edition, December 2000 (API RP 2AWSD). Section 17.2 of API RP 2A-WSD states that an existing platform should undergo an assessment process if one or more of the conditions noted in sections 17.2.1 through 17.2.5 exist.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 2000-G14, effective August 29, 2000. It revises the Lake Charles District emergency beeper number and the Pipeline Section office number.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) in June 1998 implemented the gas production verification program. The Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) will continue to focus only on verifying production for the sales (royalty) meters. Under the requirements of 30 CFR 250.1203(b), you must provide MMS (when requested) with copies of the monthly gas volume statements for those meters used to determine gas sold and/or transferred.
You should contact the Rate Control Section to conduct business concerning 30 CFR 250, Subpart K, and to make oral requests on routine short-term flaring and venting under 30 CFR 250.140. Operators must document oral flaring and venting approvals in writing and send them to the Rate Control Section within 72 hours. An email or facsimile transmission will satisfy this documentation requirement. Note that Minerals Management Service District Offices are not authorized to approve flaring or venting.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing this Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103, 30 CFR 250.203(o) and 30 CFR 250.204(s) to update the guidelines on how you should implement measures to minimize the risk of vessel strikes to protected species and report observations of injured or dead protected species. In lieu of a formal observer program, this NTL provides specific guidelines you should follow to avoid injury to marine mammals and sea turtles. This NTL supersedes NTL 2003-G07 on this subject and applies to all existing and future oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico OCS.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is being issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 to update the marine trash and debris awareness training, recordkeeping and certification requirements. This NTL supersedes and replaces NTL No. 2003-G06, effective February 15, 2003, on this subject and applies to all existing and future oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico OCS.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing this NTL to update the criteria MMS uses to determine when a supplemental bond is required to cover potential lease abandonment liability. The NTL has been revised to: 1) increase the allowable cumulative lease abandonment liability amount of a lessee as a percentage of its net worth provided other financial criteria are met; 2) remove the current ratio from the criteria used to determine the financial strength of a lessee; 3) allow a lessee to request the MMS to consider a percentage of a lessee’s proved producing reserves in the calculation of its net worth; 4) reduce the initial payment amount a lessee is required to contribute to a lease-specific abandonment escrow account; and 5) extend the time for a lessee to meet supplemental bond requirements after notice from the MMS.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has scheduled a one-day seminar on the definition and reporting of significant damage for offshore platforms. The MMS Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) will host the seminar in New Orleans on June 26, 2003 (see details below). Seminar Information: The goal of the seminar is to provide guidance and assistance to you in the determination of classifying damage found during underwater inspections as minor or major. We will be discussing the modifications and additions to the Office of Structural and Technical Support (OSTS) inspection reports that you are required to submit by November 1st of each year.
The purpose of this notice is to provide updated information on the OCS Civil Penalties Program. This NTL supersedes the assessment matrix provided in NTL No. 97-5N. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) requires the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the maximum civil penalty to reflect any increases in the Consumer Price Index
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing this Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL), pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103, to explain how you implement seismic survey mitigation measures, including special ramp-up procedures and protected species observation and reporting. This NTL supersedes and replaces NTL No. 2002-G07, effective August 22, 2002, and NTL No. 2002-G07 (Addendum 1), effective October 15, 2002, on this subject.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) explains your obligation to maintain production in paying quantities or other operations on your lease beyond the primary term. Failure to maintain operations may result in your lease terminating by operation of law.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) informs lessees and operators that the Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR), Office for Production and Development will now be performing economic and conservation evaluations of requests to abandon producing zones and to bypass a zone upon the initial completion or recompletion. These evaluations will ensure that economic zones are not prematurely abandoned and confirm that no significant hydrocarbon bearing zones are being bypassed to the detriment of ultimate recovery. This NTL also specifies the average production rates above which additional information must be submitted before you abandon a zone pursuant to 30 CFR 250.1712(a), or recomplete to a new zone pursuant 30 CFR 250.613(c).
This Notice to Lessees (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR Part 251 and 30 CFR 250.103 to provide detailed procedures for the submission, inspection and selection of geophysical data and information collected under a permit in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) OC objective of these procedures is to ensure MMS has timely access to certain geophysical data and information for use in determinin adequacy of bids received at GOM OCS lease sales.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and supersedes NTL No. 98-27, effective December 1, 1998, and NTL No. 2002-G13, effective November 15, 2002, on this subject. This NTL supplements information from NTL 98-27 with additional guidance to prevent intentional and/or accidental introduction of debris into the marine environment, and revises NTL 2002-G13 to extend the deadlines for compliance and to limit the persons to whom and the facilities to which these requirements apply. This NTL applies to all existing and future oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico OCS.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing this Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103, 30 CFR 250.203(o) and 30 CFR 250.204(s) to explain how you must implement measures to minimize the risk of vessel strikes to protected species and report observations of injured or dead protected species. This NTL supersedes NTL 2002-G14 on this subject and revises the protected species reporting procedures and contact information. This NTL applies to all existing and future oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico OCS.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators and Pipeline Right-of-way Holders (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 2003-G01, effective January 13, 2003, and provides clarification and corrects and deletes certain references to the attachments to the NTL. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) is issuing this NTL pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and 30 CFR 250.106(b) and (c) to describe the inspections you need to conduct and the plans and reports you need to prepare because of the known and potential damage to OCS facilities caused by Hurricane Lili on October 2, 2002.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 2001-G04, effective June 1, 2001, and is being issued to provide for remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys in an eighteenth grid area, covering a portion of the Eastern Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico. The NTL is issued according to 30 CFR 250.103 and provides guidance with regard to ROV surveys and reports in deepwater areas (water depths greater than 400 meters) of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) is issuing this Notice to Lessees and Operators and Right-of-way Pipeline Holders (NTL) pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and 30 CFR 250.106(b) and (c) to describe the inspections you need to conduct and the plans and reports you need to prepare because of the known and potential damage to OCS facilities caused by Hurricane Lili on October 2, 2002.
This Notice to Pipeline Right-of-way (ROW) Holders (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.101(a) and 30 CFR 250.103 and in accordance with 15 CFR 930.53(d) to provide notice and assistance regarding your compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) Federal Consistency Regulations when submitting OCS ROW pipeline applications to the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR).
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and supersedes NTL No. 98-27, effective December 1, 1998, on this subject. This NTL supplements information from NTL 98-27 with additional guidance to prevent intentional and/or accidental introduction of debris into the marine environment. This NTL applies to all existing and future oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico OCS.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing this Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL), pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103, 30 CFR 250.203(o) and 30 CFR 250.204(s) to explain how you must implement measures to minimize the risk of vessel strikes to protected species and report observations of injured or dead protected species. This NTL applies to all existing and future oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico OCS.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and supersedes NTL No. 99-G17, effective July 8, 1999, on this subject. It notifies you of the changes the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) is making to the North American Datum (NAD) 83 Implementation Plan for the Gulf of Mexico.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Offshore Minerals Management (OMM), Program Management Office (PMO), announces three presentation sessions on the OMM eGov Transformation Project. The first on December 3, 2002, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and two subsequent sessions on December 5, 2002, and December 6, 2002, in Houston, Texas. The presentations will be given by Mr. Gary Lore, Project Manager of OMM eGov Transformation Project.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing this Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL), pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 to explain how you must implement seismic survey mitigation measures. This NTL implements stipulation 5 (d) of the Final Notice of Sale for OCS Lease Sale 184. It also applies to all seismic operations throughout the Gulf of Mexico OCS in waters greater than 200 m (656 ft) in depth. These measures apply to all on-lease seismic surveys you conduct under 30 CFR 250.201 and all off-lease seismic surveys you conduct under 30 CFR 251.
Due to weather conditions, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) canceled the MMS Well Applications and Reporting Forms Workshop that was scheduled for September 26 in Houston, Texas (announced in NTL 2002-N09).
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued NTL No. 2002-G07 on August 22, 2002, pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 to explain how you must implement seismic survey mitigation measures. That NTL applies to all seismic operations throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in waters greater than 200 m (656 ft) in depth. The measures apply to all on-lease seismic surveys you conduct under 30 CFR 250.201 and all off-lease seismic surveys you conduct under 30 CFR 251. This Addendum 1 modifies the Visual Observers section of NTL No. 2002-G07.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators and Pipeline Right-of-way Holders (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 98-30, effective March 1, 1999, and NTL No. 98-30, Addendum No. 1, effective April 25, 2001. It provides for subregional Oil Spill Response Plans (OSRP’s) in the Eastern Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico, allows you to submit OSRP’s in digital format on CD-ROM, adds guidance on calculating worst case scenario volumes, provides for a discussion of dispersant effectiveness over time, and makes a few minor technical amendments.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and supersedes NTL No. 2000-G15, effective September 6, 2000, on this subject. It provides a backup method for you to provide hurricane evacuation and production curtailment statistics if the primary method is not functioning.
This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) is issued pursuant to 30 CFR 250.103 and supersedes NTL No. 97-07, dated March 1, 1997, on this subject. It makes minor technical corrections; updates regulatory citations; adds standard conditions for well workovers, completions, and recompletions; and provides for the use of a new form for reporting rig movements.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) in cooperation with the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) announces a workshop that will examine the issues associated with the use of a surface blowout preventer (BOP) during floating drilling operations. The workshop will be held in Houston, Texas on November 6, 2002.
