PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

After December 26, 2013, the Secretary may carry out the terms of any agreement the President makes with another country about shared oil and gas reservoirs, if Congress has approved it. When doing this, the Secretary must protect U.S. interests, help create American jobs, and make sure development and conservation of resources on the Outer Continental Shelf follow U.S. law and happen quickly and in an orderly way. If all parties agree to such an agreement, and the President says it is not a treaty, the Secretary must send the agreement within 180 days to the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader, the Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, and the Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. That package must show any law changes needed, an economic analysis of how U.S. offshore oil and gas activity will be affected, and a description of expected regulations. For the specific U.S.–Mexico agreement signed at Los Cabos on February 20, 2012, the Secretary may approve joint development deals, share certain confidential information as allowed, follow expert rulings under the agreement, and limit who can order work stopped on U.S. seabed installations. Nothing here lets the Secretary enter talks with Cuba about Gulf exploration near the U.S.-Cuba border or the “Eastern Gap,” and it does not change U.S. sovereign rights over the Outer Continental Shelf.

Title 43, §1356b

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Authorization

After December 26, 2013, the Secretary may implement the terms of any transboundary hydrocarbon agreement for the management of transboundary hydrocarbon reservoirs entered into by the President and approved by Congress. In implementing such an agreement, the Secretary shall protect the interests of the United States to promote domestic job creation and ensure the expeditious and orderly development and conservation of domestic mineral resources in accordance with all applicable United States laws governing the exploration, development, and production of hydrocarbon resources on the Outer Continental Shelf.

(b)Submission to Congress

(1)In general

No later than 180 days after all parties to a transboundary hydrocarbon agreement have agreed to its terms, a transboundary hydrocarbon agreement that does not constitute a treaty in the judgment of the President shall be submitted by the Secretary to—

(A)the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(B)the Majority Leader of the Senate;

(C)the Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and

(D)the Chair of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.

(2)Contents of submission

The submission shall include—

(A)any amendments to this subchapter or other Federal law necessary to implement the agreement;

(B)an analysis of the economic impacts such agreement and any amendments necessitated by the agreement will have on domestic exploration, development, and production of hydrocarbon resources on the Outer Continental Shelf; and

(C)a detailed description of any regulations expected to be issued by the Secretary to implement the agreement.

(c)Implementation of specific transboundary agreement with Mexico

The Secretary may take actions as necessary to implement the terms of the Agreement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, including—

(1)approving unitization agreements and related arrangements for the exploration, development, or production of oil and natural gas from transboundary reservoirs or geological structures;

(2)making available, in the limited manner necessary under the agreement and subject to the protections of confidentiality provided by the agreement, information relating to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas from a transboundary reservoir or geological structure that may be considered confidential, privileged, or proprietary information under law;

(3)taking actions consistent with an expert determination under the agreement; and

(4)ensuring only appropriate inspection staff at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement or other Federal agency personnel designated by the Bureau, the operator, or the lessee have authority to stop work on any installation or other device or vessel permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed of the United States that may be erected thereon for the purpose of resource exploration, development or production activities as approved by the Secretary.

(d)Savings provisions

Nothing in this section shall be construed—

(1)to authorize the Secretary to participate in any negotiations, conferences, or consultations with Cuba regarding exploration, development, or production of hydrocarbon resources in the Gulf of Mexico along the United States maritime border with Cuba or the area known by the Department of the Interior as the “Eastern Gap”; or

(2)as affecting the sovereign rights and the jurisdiction that the United States has under international law over the Outer Continental Shelf that appertains to it.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Approval of Agreement With Mexico Pub. L. 113–67, div. A, title III, § 303, Dec. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 1181, provided that: “The Agreement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, is hereby approved.”

§1356b Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements

Summary

Title 43, §1356b

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Citations & Metadata