Notice2021-18750
Notice Regarding Use of Truck-Mounted Coriolis Meters
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 31, 2021
Effective
August 31, 2021
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
This notice clarifies the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) position on the use of truck-mounted Coriolis (TMC) meters under the BLM's oil measurement regulations published on November 17, 2016.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 166 (Tuesday, August 31, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 31, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48759-48760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18750]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLHQ310000.L13100000.PP0000.21X]
Notice Regarding Use of Truck-Mounted Coriolis Meters
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of clarification.
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SUMMARY: This notice clarifies the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM)
position on the use of truck-mounted Coriolis (TMC) meters under the
BLM's oil measurement regulations published on November 17, 2016.
DATES: This interpretation takes effect on August 31, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Eagle, Production Management
Team Lead for Division of Fluid Minerals, Bureau of Land Management,
Headquarters Office, 301 Dinosaur Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87508; phone 907-
538-2300; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#42322f3602202e2f6c252d34"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dfafb2ab9fbdb3b2f1b8b0a9">[email protected]</span></a>. Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at
1-800-877-8339 to contact Ms. Eagle. The FRS is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question. You will receive a
reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice clarifies the BLM's position on
the use of TMC meters under its oil measurement regulations found at 43
CFR subpart 3174. Although the preamble to the final rule establishing
the oil measurement regulations indicated that TMC meters were not
authorized, such an interpretation is not necessarily consistent with
the plain language of the regulations.
Today, the BLM is resolving this inconsistency by adopting an
interpretation of the oil measurement regulations that allows for the
use of TMC meters if such use is conducted in accordance with the
requirements for a Coriolis measurement system (CMS).
This clarification of the BLM's oil measurement regulations will
maintain the efficacy of the regulations in ensuring measurement
accuracy and a fair return to the American public.
Background: Measurement of oil by TMC meters involves connecting a
flexible hose from a truck to the sales valve on an oil storage tank.
The seal on the sales valve is then broken, allowing oil to flow from
the tank to the truck. As the oil enters the truck, it is measured by a
Coriolis meter. When the oil transfer is complete, the sales valve at
the tank is sealed and the hose is walked-back to the truck, which
forces the last of the oil through the meter.
Oil measurement from Federal and Indian mineral leases was governed
by BLM's Onshore Order No. 4 (54 FR 8086 (Feb. 24, 1989)) from 1989 to
January 2017. TMC meters were not an authorized method of measurement
under Onshore Order No. 4. However, at least one BLM Field Office
(North Dakota) issued variances to allow for the use of TMC meters
beginning in July 2004. A November 2008 BLM Instruction Memorandum (IM)
explained that, although ``the use of truck mounted meters for
measuring oil from tanks in lieu of tank gauging is a Best Management
Practice (BMP) for oil measurement,'' TMC meters ``must be proven to be
at least as accurate as the standards set in (Onshore Order 4)'' before
an exception from Onshore Order No. 4 can be issued.\1\
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\1\ IM 2009-027, ``The Feasibility Use of Truck Mounted Meters
for Oil Measurement Onshore'' (Nov. 26, 2008).
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Prompted by external and internal oversight reviews finding many of
the BLM's production measurement and accountability policies to be
outdated and inconsistently applied, the BLM promulgated new site
security, oil measurement, and gas measurement regulations in November
2016. The new oil measurement regulations were codified as subpart 3174
of a new part 3170 in Title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations (81
FR 81462 (Nov. 17, 2016)).
Under subpart 3174, three methods of oil measurement are
authorized: Measurement by tank gauging,\2\ measurement by a lease
automatic custody transfer (LACT) system,\3\ and measurement by a
CMS.\4\ Section 3174.4
[[Page 48760]]
sets forth specific measurement performance requirements with respect
to uncertainty, bias, and verifiability that apply to all measurement
methods under subpart 3174. Additional requirements specific to
measurement by a CMS are detailed in Sec. Sec. 3174.9 and 3174.10.
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\2\ 43 CFR 3174.5, 3174.6.
\3\ 43 CFR 3174.7, 3174.8.
\4\ 43 CFR 3174.9, 3174.10.
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Subpart 3174 defines a ``Coriolis measurement system (CMS)'' as ``a
metering system using a Coriolis meter in conjunction with a tertiary
device, pressure transducer, and temperature transducer in order to
derive and report gross standard oil volume. A CMS system provides
real-time, on-line measurement of oil.'' \5\
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\5\ 43 CFR 3174.1(a). ``Tertiary device'' means, ``for a CMS,
the flow computer and associated memory, calculation, and display
functions.'' Id.
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Section 3174.9 sets forth a number of ``general requirements'' for
a CMS: The CMS must meet the performance requirements of Sec. 3174.4;
the specific make, model, and size of the Coriolis meter and associated
software must have been reviewed and approved by the BLM's Production
Measurement Team (PMT); the CMS must be ``proven'' in accordance with
Sec. 3174.11; measurement tickets must be completed under Sec.
3174.12(b); the CMS must be composed of specific components meeting
specified requirements; API oil gravity must be reported using a
specified method; and, net standard volume must be calculated in
accordance with certain API guidelines. Section 3174.10 contains CMS
operating requirements pertaining to minimum electronic pulse levels,
meter specifications, totalizers, meter zero value verification,
required on-site information, audit trails, and data protection.
The subpart 3174 regulations do not specifically address the use of
TMC meters. However, the preamble to the final rule did address TMC
meters as follows:
One commenter said the final rule should allow operators to use
truck-mounted CMS and submitted summarized data to support their
view. The summarized data indicates significant differences between
manual-gauged volumes and truck-mounted Coriolis-metered volumes. A
summary of these volume differences indicated that the truck-mounted
Coriolis meter measured as much as 22.44 bbl less that [sic] the
manual gauge measured. Missing from the data is the volume of the
entire load. The BLM needs this information to understand how
significant these variations are. The data also indicates
significant differences in measured oil temperature (as much as 23
[deg]F) and gravity (as much as 5 degrees) when compared to manual
methods. The commenter did not explain these differences or explain
or justify the data submitted. The BLM decided not to include the
use of truck-mounted Coriolis metering in the final rule. Operators
may seek approval to use the truck-mounted option through the PMT
approval process, which is outlined in Sec. 3174.13. The rule was
not changed based on this comment.
81 FR 81485.
Thus, in the preamble, the BLM expressed an intent not to authorize
the use of TMC meters as a CMS, and implicitly categorized TMC meters
as a ``method of oil measurement other than tank gauging, LACT system,
or CMS'' that requires prior BLM approval.\6\
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\6\ Subpart 3174 allows for a ``method of oil measurement other
than tank gauging, LACT system, or CMS'' to be used where it has
been approved the by the BLM. 43 CFR 3174.13.
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Discussion
The BLM is revising the position it took regarding TMC meters, as
described in the final rule preamble language described earlier,
because it believes that the text of subpart 3174 supports an
interpretation that allows for the use of TMC meters. Because TMC
meters involve the use of ``a Coriolis meter in conjunction with a
tertiary device, pressure transducer, and temperature transducer in
order to derive and report gross standard volume of oil,'' and
``provides real-time, on-line measurement of oil,'' they meet the
definition of a CMS in Sec. 3174.1. And, TMC meters can comply with
subpart 3174's requirements for a CMS. In particular, TMC meters are
capable of meeting the specific performance requirements for
uncertainty, bias, and verifiability set forth in Sec. 3174.4 (as
required by Sec. 3174.9(a)). The BLM also believes that TMC meters are
capable of complying with Sec. 3179.9, which prescribes ``general
requirements and components'' for a CMS, and Sec. 3179.10, which sets
forth the ``operating requirements'' for a CMS. Therefore, after
considering TMC meters in light of the plain text of subpart 3174, the
BLM has concluded that TMC meters are a type of a CMS and thus are an
acceptable method of oil measurement as long as the TMC meters meet the
requirements of subpart 3174.
The BLM acknowledges that the preamble to the 3174 regulations
stated that the BLM was not including TMC meters in the final rule and
that operators could seek BLM approval of TMC meters through the PMT
approval process. The BLM no longer agrees with that interpretation of
subpart 3174. In the first instance, while the preamble to a rule may
be used to inform the proper interpretation of ambiguous regulation
text, it cannot override the regulation's plain meaning. See Wyoming
Outdoor Council v. U.S. Forest Service, 165 F.3d 43, 53 (D.C. Cir.
1999) (noting that ``language in the preamble of a regulation is not
controlling over the language of the regulation itself''); BHP Minerals
International, Inc. et al, 139 IBLA 269, 310 (1997) (``Where there is a
conflict between `intent' as expressed in a preamble and as ultimately
explicated in the actual language of the regulation, it is the language
of the regulation which is determinative.''). As explained earlier, the
plain text of subpart 3174 indicates that TMC meters are a type of a
CMS, and the text of the regulation should control. In addition, the
BLM has reconsidered the rationale underlying the interpretation
espoused in the preamble. The view of TMC meters expressed in that
preamble passage appears to be inconsistent with the view expressed by
the BLM in the 2008 IM stating that ``the use of truck mounted meters
for measuring oil from tanks in lieu of tank gauging is a Best
Management Practice (BMP) for oil measurement.'' With respect to the
measurement data analyzed, the preamble passage does not address the
possibility that the difference in results might be attributable to TMC
meters' measuring capacity being more accurate than manual tank
gauging. It would seem incongruous to conclude that measurement by a
truck-mounted Coriolis meter would be unacceptably inaccurate where the
BLM would accept measurement by the same Coriolis meter in a stationary
CMS. For the foregoing reasons, the BLM is now clarifying that it
interprets subpart 3174 as allowing for the use of TMC meters, as long
as such use is conducted in accordance with the subpart 3174
requirements for a CMS.
(Authority: 30 U.S.C. 189; 30 U.S.C. 1751(a), 43 CFR 3170.1)
Rebecca Good,
Acting Chief, Division of Fluid Minerals.
[FR Doc. 2021-18750 Filed 8-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P
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