The
NewsRoom
Release #: 3124
Date: September 2, 2004
MMS, Louisiana
complete joint RIK crude sale
Several major companies were
awarded contracts for approximately 14,300 barrels per day of Royalty
in Kind (RIK) crude oil in an August sale conducted by the U.S.
Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the
State of Louisiana.
The joint sale included RIK oil
from producing leases located within the Federal 8(g) zone offshore
Louisiana as well as RIK oil produced from Federal leases. The
Federal 8(g) zone offshore Louisiana is
the three-mile wide zone that lies adjacent to the state’s seaward
boundary.
The offering attracted offers from
five parties. ChevronTexaco, Shell Trading, ExxonMobil and
ConocoPhillips were awarded contracts for the Federal 8(g) crude oil
and the Federal non-8(g) volume. Physical deliveries are scheduled to
begin Oct. 1, 2004, and continue for six months.
The August sale is the third RIK
oil sale conducted jointly by the State of Louisiana and the MMS since
March 2003, when the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU). That MOU solidified a Federal-State partnership that provides
the State of Louisiana with a more active role in managing its oil
resources while protecting State and taxpayer interests.
While the MMS has historically
collected royalties “in value,” in the form of cash, it has in recent
years been collecting its royalties “in kind,” in the form of product,
to more efficiently manage the nation’s royalty assets. Among the
objectives of the effort are maximization of taxpayer assets,
reduction of regulatory costs and reporting requirements, and
improvement of overall business efficiencies.
The Minerals Management Service is the federal
bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the
nation’s oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the Outer
Continental Shelf in federal offshore waters. The bureau also
collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal
and American Indian lands. MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in 2003
and more than $135 billion since it was created in 1982. Nearly $1
billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation
Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and federal
park and recreation lands.
Relevant Web Sites
MMS Main Website
Media Contacts
Patrick Etchart
(303) 231-3162
Nicolette Nye
(202) 208-3985
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior |