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FY 16-17: Agency Priority Goal
Oil and gas resource management
Priority Goal
Goal Overview
Problem or opportunity being addressed
Oil and gas production on Interior’s managed lands represents a significant part of the nation’s hydrocarbon production. In February 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) listed Interior’s management of Federal oil and gas on GAO’s High-Risk List for deficiencies in its oversight of three broad areas:
- Revenue Collection: (a) whether Interior is collecting a “fair return”; (b) whether Interior is consistently meeting its target for production verification inspections; and (c) whether Interior has sufficient capacity to ensure that it is collecting reliable and consistent data on the production and sale of oil and gas from Federal lands and waters.
- Human Capital: Interior’s ability to adequately address persistent problems in hiring, training, and retaining sufficient staff for oversight and management of oil and gas operations on Federal lands and waters.
- Reorganization: whether Interior has the capacity to undertake the broad reorganization of its offshore oil and gas management and revenue collection functions while still providing reasonable assurance that billions of dollars in revenue are properly assessed and collected as well as managing oil and gas exploration and production on Federal lands and waters. In February 2013, GAO reported Interior’s completion of addressing this deficiency.
Conducting annual inspections of high risk oil and gas cases helps ensure accurate production reporting and correct royalty payments, as part of addressing the recommendations specified in the GAO High Risk Listing. High risk case identification focuses on the following seven risk factors, four generated by the BLM and three derived from the Office of Natural Resources Revenue’s (ONRR) risk model:
- BLM : (1) production rating; (2) number of missing Oil and Gas Operations Reports (OGOR); (3) non-compliance rating; and (4) date of last production inspection.
- ONRR: (1) OGOR reporting error rating; (2) production variance rating; and (3) audit findings rating.
Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives
In addition to assisting with addressing the revenue collection deficiency, this priority goal ties directly to Mission Area 3, Powering Our Future and Responsible Use of the Nation’s Resources, in the Department of the Interior’s FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan. Additionally, inspecting high risk producing cases ensures compliance of oil and gas operations with lease terms, regulations in title 43 CFR 3161.3 (a), and other applicable regulations. Section 101(a) of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 requires, at a minimum, annual inspections of those federal and Indian lease sites producing, or expected to produce, significant quantities of oil or gas or for which a history of non-compliance exists.
Key barriers and challenges
The number of certified inspectors limits the Department’s ability to meet annual high risk cases inspection requirements. Historically, high turnover of certified Interior inspectors resulted from competing private sector companies’ hiring efforts. Recent oil price drops, however, seem to be slowing this trend.
Stakeholder Engagement
Interior developed this goal in conjunction with the White House/OMB and oil and gas production recommendations in response to GAO and the Office of the Inspector General.
Strategies
Interior’s risk-based inspection strategy determines the number of high risk production cases each year as outlined in the inspection and enforcement strategy specified in Instruction Memorandum (IM) 2011-197. This risk-based strategy provides managers in the field the means to better determine most critical inspections sites through scoring using pre-defined criteria
The following definitions relate to terms used in this goal statement and strategy discussion:
- Case: lease, communitization agreement, unit agreement, or participating area in a unit agreement identifying a group of wells and facilities inspected together (counts as one inspection).
- Lease: legal document executed between a landowner, as lessor, and a company or individual, as lessee, conveying the right to exploit the premises for minerals or other products for a specified period of time over a given area.
- Communitization Agreement: agreement to combine two or more mineral leases to have sufficient acreage to comply with the spacing required to drill a well.
- Unit Agreement: agreement or plan for oil and gas development and operation providing a single consolidated entity without regard to separate ownerships and the allocation of costs and benefits as defined in the unit agreement or plan.
- Participating Area: that part of a unit area considered producing or necessary for unit operations and to which production is allocated as prescribed in the unit agreement.
Interior’s strategy to address the GAO High Risk Report also includes:
- Revising Onshore Oil and Gas Orders 3, 4 and 5. These onshore orders cover oil and gas measurement and storage in secure facilities to prevent theft and mishandling of production.
- Revising regulations to determine the royalty rate on oil and gas. Revised regulations will determine the royalty rate and require a review of the royalty rates at least every five years.
- Reinstating training for managers on oil and gas operations. The BLM developed a training course covering the responsibilities of a manager of oil and gas operations. As of Q2 FY2015, all managers with oil and gas responsibilities had taken this course.
Progress Update
As of Q4 FY 2016, BLM conducted 1,965 high risk inspections, or 100% of the 1,965 high risk cases identified for FY 2016. As the year progressed, the pace of inspections increased and the goal of inspecting 100% of these cases was achieved.
As a part of efforts to address weaknesses identified in Interior’s oil and gas programs identified on GAO’s High Risk list, BLM developed a risk-based strategy for determining the high-risk oil and gas cases that should be inspected in each year. This risk-based strategy is providing managers in the field with the means to better determine where production inspections are most needed. Field offices set inspection targets through scoring the current oil and gas cases, using pre-defined criteria including production volumes, previous violations, amount of time since the last inspection, and missing Oil and Gas Operations Reports (from the Office of Natural Resources Revenue).
The Department achieved the goal for high-risk production inspections in FY 2014, FY 2015, and achieved the goal again for FY 2016. The high risk approach better ensures the highest priority inspections are conducted annually. In FY 2016, the BLM added a 60 day close out plan to ensure offices provide 100% coverage for high risk cases and identify additional resources needed early enough to provide assistance to offices that appeared to be unable to meet their targets.
Next Steps
The BLM is employing recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives to attract and retain petroleum engineers (PEs) and inspectors. In addition, the BLM improved its ability to retain petroleum engineer technician (PET) staff by implementing standard position descriptions, requiring Continuing Service Agreements for newly hired PETs, upgrading the PET series to a GS-11 full performance level and providing a 35% increase in PET and PE salary above the minimum rate of basic pay using permanent special pay rate authority in ten of BLM’s busiest offices. With additional Inspection and Enforcement funding in FY 2016, the BLM is in the third round of recruitment for PETs from a national open vacancy. So far, 36 offers have been accepted. State vacancy announcements garnered an additional 16 new PETs. The BLM is scheduling a second cohort of the PET Certification program for FY 2017 to accommodate the new PET staff. Additional certified PET staffing capacity will enable the BLM to cover the requisite share of low priority inspection cases. If not completed, low priority cases quickly become future high risk cases. There is also a need to ensure a credible compliance presence in the field especially during industry busy periods when operators may take more risks.
Contributing Programs & Other Factors
Contributing Programs within the agency (http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/Energy_Facts_Enforcement.html)
- BLM Field offices responsible for conducting inspections and entering results into the Automated Fluid Minerals Support System (AFMSS).
- BLM Washington Office responsible for running reports from AFMSS showing the number of high risk production inspections completed.
- Office of Natural Resources Revenue: provides production data to the BLM on the completion of inspections.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs and Fish and Wildlife Service: may help determine surface use risks and report surface incidents of non-compliance to the local BLM field offices.
Contributing programs or partners outside the agency
Other entities that report surface incidents of non-compliance to the local BLM field offices include:
- U.S. Forest Service;
- State oil and gas inspection agencies; and
- Indian Tribal inspectors.
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Strategic Goals
Strategic Goal:
Secure America's Energy Resources
Statement:
We will promote responsible development of renewable energy and ensure safe and environmentally responsible access to natural resources.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Ensure environmental compliance and the safety of energy development.
Description:
Four Department bureaus, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), oversee responsible energy development on private, public, and tribal lands and waters. Safety, environmental, and conservation compliance activities safeguard the Nation’s onshore and offshore energy resources, and mitigate the effects of mining on natural resources, including the protection and restoration of coal effected lands. These efforts are also key to maintaining the public’s confidence that energy development can be and is subject to strong and effective oversight.
Statement:
Develop renewable energy potential.
Description:
As four Department bureaus, BLM, BOEM, BSEE and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), work to promote domestic energy production by ensuring that renewable energy resources on the Department’s managed lands and waters are developed in an environmentally responsible manner. Standing up new sources of clean energy generation and facilitating the construction of new or upgraded transmission networks are helping to create new industries and supply chains, driving economic growth and job creation, and helping provide for a cleaner energy future.
Statement:
Manage conventional energy development.
Description:
The DOI oversees vast resources that, when developed the right way and in the right places, support an “all of the above” energy strategy that expands the production of energy at home, promotes energy security, and helps drive the economy and job growth. The Department’s landscape-level approach focuses on environmentally responsible energy development.
Statement:
Account for energy revenue.
Description:
ONRR disburses mineral and renewable energy revenues to a number of entities. Distributions to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, and the Reclamation Fund help ensure America’s natural resources, landscapes, and rich history are available to be enjoyed by current and future generations. Distributions to states are used to fund large capital projects such as schools, roads, and public buildings. Revenues collected from leases on Indian lands work directly to benefit members of the Indian community.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement:
Renewable energy resource development.
By September 30, 2015, increase approved capacity authorized for renewable (solar, wind, and geothermal) energy resources affecting Department of the Interior managed lands, while ensuring full environmental review, to at least 16,500 Megawatts (since 2009).
Description:
The Obama Administration’s coordinated strategy to develop all appropriate sources of renewable and conventional energy on U.S. public lands calls for development of onshore and offshore renewable energy under a ‘Smart from the Start’ approach that prioritizes and processes existing applications in a coordinated, focused manner with full environmental analysis and public review.
As manager of one-fifth of the nation’s landmass and 1.7 billion acres of the outer continental shelf, the U.S. Department of the Interior has the resources to help America produce more energy at home, thereby supporting a growing economy and job creation and reducing dependence on foreign oil and increasing sustainable practices with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Secretary Sally Jewell has placed a priority on “Powering Our Future,” emphasizing the responsible development of conventional and renewable resources on our nation’s public lands and waters.
Onshore, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has identified 20.6 million acres of public land with wind energy potential in 11 western states, 30 million acres with solar energy potential in six southwestern states, and 111 million acres of public land in western states and Alaska with geothermal resource potential. Offshore, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages the Outer Continental Shelf, 1.7 billion acres of federal-offshore lands with enormous wind-energy potential, and approved in 2011 the construction plan for Cape Wind Energy off the coast of Massachusetts.
In addition to the multiple renewable energy efforts on public lands, the Department of Interior is reducing energy consumption within its own buildings while also self-generating renewable energy at over 1,000 Interior sites nationwide, including locations such as visitor centers, wildlife refuges, recreation centers, and tribal facilities. Developing such renewable energy resources responsibly could help support a growing economy and protect our national interests while reducing our dependence on foreign oil and climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions.
Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives
As the means for advancing the Administration’s ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy to develop domestic energy resources, realizing one of the Secretary of the Interior’s key priorities in creating a new energy frontier and as reflected in Interior’s Strategic Plan’s mission area to “Powering Our Future and Responsible Use of the Nation’s Resources,” this goal continues to expand upon the efforts started with the initial FY 2010/2011 Priority Goal to, “Increase approved capacity authorized for renewable (solar, wind, and geothermal) energy resources on Department of the Interior managed lands, while ensuring full environmental review, by at least 9,000 megawatts through 2011.” As part of securing America’s energy future, DOI is helping to move our nation toward a clean-energy economy. At Interior, this means changing the way we do business by opening our doors to responsible development of renewable energy on our public lands. This means using a ‘Smart from the Start’ approach that prioritizes and processes existing applications in a coordinated, focused manner with full environmental analysis and public review. Efforts include facilitating environmentally appropriate renewable-energy projects involving solar, wind and waves, geothermal, and hydropower. These resources, developed in the right ways and the right places, will help curb our dependence on foreign oil, reduce our use of fossil fuels and promote new industries and jobs here in America.
Key barriers and challenges
Renewable energy projects, especially solar and wind, are complex. The Department is committed to permitting renewable energy projects on public lands in an environmentally responsible manner. As a result, proposed projects are sometimes rejected or reduced in size and scope to avoid or minimize impacts to tribal and cultural resources, threatened and endangered species and their habitat, or areas near or adjacent to lands designated by Congress, the President, or Secretary for the protection of sensitive viewsheds, resources, and values that could be adversely affected by development. Additionally, renewable energy companies sometimes decide to scale down, modify timelines and develop their projects in phases, or otherwise modify or withdraw projects for reasons unrelated to the permitting process.
By tracking progress on a quarterly basis, Interior is aware of the emerging complex issues and challenges associated with the formulation of renewable energy projects that require time and resources to address—including for example, rerouting and modification of plans to avoid impacts to natural resources like sensitive avian and wildlife species and tribal concerns. Further, while Interior agencies play a critical role in facilitating the siting and permitting of renewable energy projects on public lands, there are other factors that impact a potential project’s progress, including the project proponent’s ability to secure financing and to obtain power purchase agreements with electric utility companies. Technology and transmission constraints, such as an applicant needing to upgrade a transmission line, can also impact the overall schedule.
Stakeholder Engagement
This goal includes a broad number of stakeholders within Interior and externally. It is a continuation of a FY 2012-2013 goal that was developed by BLM in concert with the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Other Federal agencies including DOI, USDA, EPA, NOAA; Interior bureaus including FWS, NPS, USGS; as well as States, local entities, conservation groups, industry and others are engaged to advance the Administration’s ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy to develop domestic energy resources and to achieve one of the Secretary of the Interior’s top priorities for “Powering Our Future.”
Statement:
Oil and gas resources management. By September 30, 2015, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will increase the completion of inspections of federal and Indian high risk oil and gas cases by 9 percent over FY 2011 levels, which is equivalent to covering as much as 95% of the potential high risk cases.
Description:
Problem or opportunity being addressed
The inspection of high risk producing oil and gas cases is paramount to help ensure that hydrocarbon production on federally managed lands are properly accounted for and results in accurate royalty payments to the public and Indian owners of such minerals.Oil and gas production on federally supervised lands represent a significant part of the nation’s hydrocarbon production.Operating regulations at 43 CFR 3161.3 (a) require the BLM to inspect all leases which produce high volumes of oil or natural gas and those leases that have a history of non-compliance at least once a year.The high risk cases are determined by four risk factors: production rating; number of missing Oil and Gas Operations Reports (OGOR); non-compliance rating; and, last production inspection date rating.
This effort is a component of addressing the deficiencies identified in the GAO High Risk report, which identified the areas for needed improvement including:
- ensuring data on production verification and royalties are consistent and reliable,
- meeting goals for oil and gas verification inspections, and
- ensuring that informal employee training is supported by formalized training courses offered on a consistent basis.
Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives
Achieving a high rate of inspecting high risk producing cases will advance the BLM’s mission by ensuring that oil and gas operations are conducted in compliance with lease terms, with the regulations in title 43 CFR 3161.3 (a), and all other applicable regulations. The BLM is charged, in Section 101. (a) of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982, with procedures to ensure that each federal and Indian lease site which is producing or is expected to produce significant quantities of oil or gas in any year or which has a history of non-compliance be inspected at least once annually.
Key barriers and challenges
The Bureau is limited in its ability to meet the requirement of inspecting all high risk cases by the number of certified inspectors available to inspect these cases. Competing priorities take time from these inspectors in completing high risk production inspections. High priority drilling and abandonment inspections must be completed prior to high risk production inspections. In addition the Bureau has historically had a high turnover of certified inspectors.
Stakeholder Engagement
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General (OIG) has pointed out the failure of the BLM to adequately ensure production of federal and Indian minerals. The BLM answered the requests from both the GAO and OIG. This Priority Goal was created to help address some of the identified concerns while providing a forum by which the Department can continue to track the progress toward addressing the other concerns identified by GAO. The goal was developed in concert with the White House and released with the President’s FY 2013 Budget.
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objective:
Ensure Environmental Compliance and Safety of Energy Development Activities
Statement:
Ensure environmental compliance and the safety of energy development.
Description:
Four Department bureaus, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), oversee responsible energy development on private, public, and tribal lands and waters. Safety, environmental, and conservation compliance activities safeguard the Nation’s onshore and offshore energy resources, and mitigate the effects of mining on natural resources, including the protection and restoration of coal effected lands. These efforts are also key to maintaining the public’s confidence that energy development can be and is subject to strong and effective oversight.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement: Oil and gas resources management. By September 30, 2015, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will increase the completion of inspections of federal and Indian high risk oil and gas cases by 9 percent over FY 2011 levels, which is equivalent to covering as much as 95% of the potential high risk cases.
Description: Problem or opportunity being addressed The inspection of high risk producing oil and gas cases is paramount to help ensure that hydrocarbon production on federally managed lands are properly accounted for and results in accurate royalty payments to the public and Indian owners of such minerals.Oil and gas production on federally supervised lands represent a significant part of the nation’s hydrocarbon production.Operating regulations at 43 CFR 3161.3 (a) require the BLM to inspect all leases which produce high volumes of oil or natural gas and those leases that have a history of non-compliance at least once a year.The high risk cases are determined by four risk factors: production rating; number of missing Oil and Gas Operations Reports (OGOR); non-compliance rating; and, last production inspection date rating. Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives Achieving a high rate of inspecting high risk producing cases will advance the BLM’s mission by ensuring that oil and gas operations are conducted in compliance with lease terms, with the regulations in title 43 CFR 3161.3 (a), and all other applicable regulations. The BLM is charged, in Section 101. (a) of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982, with procedures to ensure that each federal and Indian lease site which is producing or is expected to produce significant quantities of oil or gas in any year or which has a history of non-compliance be inspected at least once annually. Key barriers and challenges The Bureau is limited in its ability to meet the requirement of inspecting all high risk cases by the number of certified inspectors available to inspect these cases. Competing priorities take time from these inspectors in completing high risk production inspections. High priority drilling and abandonment inspections must be completed prior to high risk production inspections. In addition the Bureau has historically had a high turnover of certified inspectors. Stakeholder Engagement The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General (OIG) has pointed out the failure of the BLM to adequately ensure production of federal and Indian minerals. The BLM answered the requests from both the GAO and OIG. This Priority Goal was created to help address some of the identified concerns while providing a forum by which the Department can continue to track the progress toward addressing the other concerns identified by GAO. The goal was developed in concert with the White House and released with the President’s FY 2013 Budget.
This effort is a component of addressing the deficiencies identified in the GAO High Risk report, which identified the areas for needed improvement including: