TREASURY REGULATIONS

(a) Imposition of fee—(1) In general. Under section 302(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 (Act), the Internal Revenue Service is authorized to collect a fee of not more than 3 cents per barrel on oil that is obtained from the Outer Continental Shelf. This fee is established by the Commandant, United States Coast Guard, and is imposed on the owner of the oil as defined in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. The barrels subject to the fee shall be those barrels reported by the owner of the oil (301.9001-1 (a)(2)), or a person authorized to act for the owner, on the monthly royalty reports, Form 9-153, filed with the U.S. Geological Survey as required by 30 CFR 250.94. For the purpose of computing this fee, the owner of the oil shall measure the Outer Continental Shelf oil production by employing the criteria of the U.S. Geological Survey contained in 30 CFR 250.60 and Outer Continental Shelf Gulf of Mexico Order 13. No reduction in the amount due will be permitted by reason of theoretical or actual oil lost in transit. To ensure that the Fund is maintained at a level of not less than $100,000,000 and not more than $200,000,000, the Commandant, United States Coast Guard, may modify the amount of this fee.

(2) Owner of oil. For the purposes of 301.9001-1, 301.9001-2, and 301.9001-3, the owner of oil is the person in whom is vested ownership of the oil as it is produced at the wellhead without regard to the existence of contractual arrangements for the sale or other disposition of the oil between such a person and third parties. Under this rule, the Federal government entitlement to royalty oil does not constitute ownership of oil by the Federal government at the time of production.

(3) Example. The provisions of paragraph (a)(2) of this section may be illustrated by the following example:

(4) Cross-references. See § 301.9001-2(a) for the definition of barrel, § 301.9001-2(b) for the definition of oil, and § 301.9001-2(c) for the definition of person.

(5) Effective Date. The provisions of 301.9001-1, 301.9001-2, and 301.9001-3 are effective on July 25, 1979, at 7:00 a.m., local time. If, however, the established practice has been to gauge oil production at a time other than 7:00 a.m., the effective date is July 25, 1979, at the time production has been gauged.

(b) Collection of fee. The Internal Revenue Service shall collect the fee imposed by section 302(d) of the Act. Administrative procedures for the collection of this fee shall be prescribed from time to time by the Commissioner. The Commissioner may designate the reasonably necessary records and documents to be kept by the person or persons from whom the fee is collected. See also the regulations under 33 CFR 135.103 for additional rules relating to the implementation of the Act.

(c) Time and place for payment of the fee—(1) In general. Payment of the fee shall be made in accordance with the rules established in paragraph (c)(2), (3) and (4) of this section. When a deposit is required by these rules, it must be filed with the Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, Texas 73301 using Form 6008, Fee Deposit for Offshore Oil. Adjustments required in the amount paid during the calendar quarter to reflect the actual amount due for the quarter shall be made on Form 6009, Quarterly Report of Fees Due. Form 6009 must be filed on or before the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter with the Austin Service Center. The rules under section 7502, relating to the treatment of timely mailing as timely filing and paying, and section 7503, relating to the time for performance of acts where the last day falls on Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday are applicable to the filing of Form 6009.

(2) $100 or less of fees. If the owner of oil is liable in any calendar quarter for $100 or less of fees, the owner or a person authorized to act for the owner may either deposit this amount or pay the full amount of the fee when Form 6009 is filed.

(3) More than $100 of fees. If the owner of oil is liable in the first or second month of the calendar quarter for more than $100 of fees and is not required to make a semimonthly deposit (see paragraph (c)(4) of this section), the owner or a person authorized to act for the owner must deposit the amount on or before the last day of the following month following the month of production.

(4) More than $2000 of fees. The owner of oil who is liable for more than $2000 of fees for any month of a calendar quarter must deposit fees for the following quarter (regardless of amount) on a semimonthly basis. The deposit must be made on or before the ninth day following the semimonthly period for which it is reportable. The first deposit for a month may be reasonably estimated when an accounting of oil production is normally done by the month. Under these circumstances, the second for that month deposit should be adjusted to reflect the total barrels produced in that month.

(d) Responsibility for payment of fee—(1) In general. Form 6009, Quarterly Report of Fees Due, must be filed and the fee must be paid either by the owner of the oil (301.9001-1(a)(2)) or by a person authorized to act for the owner of the oil under an acceptable power of attorney filed with the Austin Service Center. For the purposes of the regulations at 301.9001-1, 301.9001-2, and 301.9001-3, an operating agreement between the operator of the oil-producing facility and the owner of oil is considered an acceptable power of attorney if the operating agreement specifically states that the operator is authorized to pay the fee imposed by section 302(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978.

(2) Example. The provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example:

(e) Penalty and Interest. Failure to collect or pay the fee shall result in a civil penalty assessed by the Secretary of the Treasury. The amount of the penalty is not to exceed $10,000 in addition to the fee and the interest on the unpaid fee that would have been earned if paid when due and invested in the special Treasury securities which are to be purchased by the fund. The computation of the rate of interest to be levied on underpayment of fees shall be based on the average interest rate earned by the interest-bearing special obligations of the United States in the fund for each calendar quarter for which there is underpayment. Unless it can be shown that the failure to collect or pay the fee is due to reasonable cause and not due to the willful neglect, the amount of the penalty is the lesser of—

(1) $10,000 or

(2) The amount of the fee.