---
kind: "section"
citation: "30 C.F.R. § 203.31"
title: "30"
number: "203.31"
heading: "If I have a qualified phase 2 or qualified phase 3 ultra-deep well, what royalty relief would that well earn for my lease?"
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/30/203.31"
---

# §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](/cfr/30/203.35.md) and the price conditions in [§ 203.36](/cfr/30/203.36.md), 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](/cfr/30/203.33.md):
- (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](/cfr/30/203.41..203.47.md) as they existed at the time the lease was issued.
  - (2) Subject to the administrative requirements of [§ 203.35](/cfr/30/203.35.md) and the price conditions in [§ 203.36](/cfr/30/203.36.md), your qualified well earns your lease an RSV shown in the following table in BCF or MCF as prescribed in [§ 203.33](/cfr/30/203.33.md):
- (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](/cfr/30/203.41.md).
- (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)](/cfr/30/203.30.md?p=a)), has no existing deep or ultra-deep wells and that the price thresholds prescribed in [§ 203.36](/cfr/30/203.36.md) have not been exceeded.

## Notes

### Amendments

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

### Authority

Authority: 25 U.S.C. 396 et seq.; 25 U.S.C. 396a et seq.; 25 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.; 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.; 30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.; 30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.; 30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 15903-15906; 43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.; 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.; and 43 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

### Source

Source: 76 FR 64462, Oct. 18, 2011, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

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