(a) Except as provided in § 3178.6(b) and paragraph (b) of this section, royalty is owed on all oil or gas used in operations conducted off the lease, unit, or communitized area.

(b) The BLM may grant prior written approval to treat oil or gas used in operations conducted off the lease, unit, or communitized area as royalty free (referred to as off-lease royalty-free use) if the use is among those listed in § 3178.4(a) and § 3178.5(a) and if:

(1) The equipment or facility in which the operation is conducted is located off the lease, unit, or communitized area for engineering, economic, resource protection, or physical accessibility reasons; and

(2) The operations are conducted upstream of the FMP.

(c) The operator must obtain BLM approval under paragraph (b) of this section by submitting a Sundry Notice containing the information required under § 3178.9. If the BLM disapproves a request for royalty-free treatment for volumes used under this section, the operator must pay royalties on such volumes. If the BLM approves a request for royalty-free treatment for volumes used under this section, such approval will be deemed effective from the date the request was filed.

(d) Approval of measurement or commingling off the lease, unit, or communitized area under other regulations does not constitute approval of off-lease royalty-free use. The operator or lessee must expressly request, and submit its justification for, approval of off-lease royalty-free use.

(e) If equipment or a facility located on a particular lease, unit, or communitized area treats oil or gas produced from properties that are not unitized or communitized with the property on which the equipment or facility is located, in addition to treating oil or gas produced from the lease, unit, or communitized area on which the equipment or facility is located, the operator may report as royalty free only that portion of the oil or gas used as fuel that is properly allocable to the share of production contributed by the lease, unit, or communitized area on which the equipment is located, unless otherwise authorized by the BLM under this section.