§ 3179.70 Oil-well gas.

(a) Where oil-well gas must be flared due to pipeline capacity constraints, midstream processing failures, or other similar events that prevent produced gas from being transported through the connected pipeline, the oil-well gas is “unavoidably lost” for the purposes of 43 CFR 3162.3-1(j), 43 CFR 3179.41(b)(11), and 3179.42, subject to the following limits: (1) Flaring of 0.08 Mcf per barrel of oil produced per month between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025. (2) The flaring limit of 0.07 Mcf per barrel of oil produced per month will begin on July 1, 2025. (3) The flaring limit of 0.06 Mcf per barrel of oil produced per month will begin on July 1, 2026. (4) The flaring limit of 0.05 Mcf per barrel of oil produced per month will begin on July 1, 2027, and remain at this level. (b) Where substantial volumes of oil-well gas are flared the BLM may order the operator to curtail or shut-in production as necessary to avoid the undue waste of Federal or Indian gas. The BLM will not issue a shut-in or curtailment order under this paragraph unless the operator has reported flaring in excess of 1 Mcf per barrel of oil produced per month for 3 consecutive months and the BLM confirms that flaring is ongoing. (c) If a BLM order under paragraph (b) of this section would adversely affect production of oil or gas from non-Federal and non-Indian mineral interests (e.g., production allocated to a mix of Federal, State, Indian, and private leases under a unit agreement), the BLM may issue such an order only to the extent that the BLM is authorized to regulate the rate of production under the governing unit or communitization agreement. In the absence of such authorization, the BLM will contact the State regulatory authority having jurisdiction over the oil and gas production from the non-Federal and non-Indian interests and request that that entity take appropriate action to limit the waste of gas.