U.S. Department of the Interior
Minerals Management Service
Office of Communications

PRESS ADVISORY

TO: BEAT REPORTERS

FROM: Tom DeRocco

SUBJECT: FYI ITEMS

Between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1995, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) tested a natural gas royalty-in-kind project. A report evaluating this pilot effort is now available on the MMS Home Page on the Internet. Our website address:

http://www.mms.gov

Copies also may be requested from Jim McNamee, Office of Policy and Management Improvement; phone: (303) 275-7126 or fax: (303) 275-7124.

We've sent you a copy of a Special Information sheet that details the schedule of sales and pre-lease steps in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 1997-2002. If you didn't receive the schedule, please give me a call at (202) 208-3985.

Speaking of the OCS 5-Year Program, one of the most important tools in our leasing effort is the Environmental Studies Program Information System (ESPIS), which was initiated in 1973 to provide the Interior Department with the scientific information needed to make informed decisions on the development of our OCS energy resources. Under Phase I, MMS made available over the Internet, technical summaries of over 700 MMS-sponsored research projects. Now, under Phase II, we're adding the full text of 20 years of environmental research comprising nearly 500,000 pages.

ESP research can be accessed through the Internet at

http://www.mms.gov/espis/index.html.

-MMS-

24 hour Fax-on-Demand Service:(202) 219-1703