30 CFR § 203.31 - If I have a qualified phase 2 or qualified phase 3 ultra-deep well, what royalty relief would that well earn for my lease?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t30/s203.31"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "30 CFR § 203.31 - If I have a qualified phase 2 or qualified phase 3 ultra-deep well, what royalty relief would that well earn for my lease?"
title_number: 30
title_name: "Mineral Resources"
section_number: "203.31"
section_name: "If I have a qualified phase 2 or qualified phase 3 ultra-deep well, what royalty relief would that well earn for my lease?"
chapter_name: "BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "MINERALS REVENUE MANAGEMENT"
part_number: "203"
part_name: "RELIEF OR REDUCTION IN ROYALTY RATES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "25 U.S.C. 396  25 U.S.C. 396a  25 U.S.C. 2101  30 U.S.C. 181  30 U.S.C. 351  30 U.S.C. 1001  30 U.S.C. 1701  31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 15903-15906; 43 U.S.C. 1301  43 U.S.C. 1331  and 43 U.S.C. 1801"
regulatory_source: "76 FR 64462, Oct. 18, 2011, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "203"
---


# 203.31 If I have a qualified phase 2 or qualified phase 3 ultra-deep well, what royalty relief would that well earn for my lease?

(a) Subject to the administrative requirements of § 203.35 and the price conditions in § 203.36, your qualified well earns your lease an RSV shown in the following table in billions of cubic feet (BCF) or in thousands of cubic feet (MCF) as prescribed in § 203.33:

| If you have a qualified phase 2 or qualified phase 3 ultra-deep wellthat is: | Then your lease earns an RSV on this volume of gas production: |
| --- | --- |
| (1) An original well, | 35 BCF. |
| (2) A sidetrack with a sidetrack measured depth of at least 20,000 feet, | 35 BCF. |
| (3) An ultra-deep short sidetrack that is a phase 2 ultra-deep well, | 4 BCF plus 600 MCF timessidetrack measured depth (rounded to the nearest 100 feet) but no more than 25 BCF. |
| (4) An ultra-deep short sidetrack that is a phase 3 ultra-deep well, | 0 BCF. |

(b)(1) This paragraph applies if your lease:

(i) Has produced gas or oil from a deep well with a perforated interval the top of which is less than 18,000 feet TVD SS;

(ii) Was issued in a lease sale held between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2005; and

(iii) The terms of your lease expressly incorporate the provisions of §§ 203.41 through 203.47 as they existed at the time the lease was issued.

(2) Subject to the administrative requirements of § 203.35 and the price conditions in § 203.36, your qualified well earns your lease an RSV shown in the following table in BCF or MCF as prescribed in § 203.33:

| If you have a qualified phase 2 ultra-deep well that is . . . | Then your lease earns an RSV on this volume of gas production: |
| --- | --- |
| (i) An original well or a sidetrack with a sidetrack measured depth of at least 20,000 feet TVD SS, | 10 BCF. |
| (ii) An ultra-deep short sidetrack, | 4 BCF plus 600 MCF times sidetrack measured depth (rounded to the nearest 100 feet) but no more than 10 BCF. |

(c) Lessees may request a refund of or recoup royalties paid on production from qualified phase 2 or phase 3 ultra-deep wells that:

(1) Occurs before December 18, 2008, and

(2) Is subject to application of an RSV under either § 203.31 or § 203.41.

(d) The following examples illustrate how this section applies. These examples assume that your lease is located in the GOA west of 87 degrees, 30 minutes West longitude and in water less than 400 meters deep (see § 203.30(a)), has no existing deep or ultra-deep wells and that the price thresholds prescribed in § 203.36 have not been exceeded.

[76 FR 64462, Oct. 18, 2011, as amended at 90 FR 44325, Sept. 15, 2025]