§15909 Gas Hydrate Production Incentive

Summary

Pays companies by cutting or pausing royalties to help produce natural gas from gas hydrate deposits on the outer Continental Shelf and on Federal lands in Alaska. The Secretary may give this royalty break for leases that were issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act or are onshore Federal Alaska oil and gas leases, if the lease was issued before January 1, 2016, and production of gas from hydrates starts before January 1, 2018. The break can cover up to 30 billion cubic feet of gas per lease and is extra to any other royalty relief that does not specifically target gas hydrate production. The Secretary can limit the break based on market price. The break applies to eligible leases issued before, on, or after August 8, 2005, and to production on or after the date the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking is published. The Secretary must publish an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking within 180 days after August 8, 2005, and finish the rules within 365 days after that date. The rules must define “gas hydrate resources” to include both the gas inside hydrates in the hydrate stability zone and any free gas trapped by or under that zone. Within 365 days after August 8, 2005, the Secretary, with the Secretary of Energy, must review other ways to boost production and send a report to Congress.