For Release: February 9, 1995        Contact:  Thomas C. DeRocco
                                               (202) 208-3983
                                               Michael L. Baugher
                                               (303)231-3162

      INTERIOR DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHES INDIAN GAS VALUATION NEGOTIATED
                           RULEMAKING COMMITTEE

                     
  The U.S. Department of the Interior established a committee to
advise the Minerals Management Service (MMS) on revising and
simplifying regulations regarding valuation of natural gas
produced on Indian lands.

  Designated as the Indian Gas Valuation Negotiated Rulemaking
Committee, it succeeds by official transformation, an earlier,
informal MMS study group which gathered information on the
current gas market and identified challenges facing royalty
valuation of gas from Indian leases.  

  The Committee will meet February 22 and 23 in Denver to
discuss a variety of complex valuation issues including major
portion analysis, dual accounting, and percentage of proceeds
contracts. MMS will publish the Committee's recommendations in
the proposed rule.

  The Committee has representatives from the Navajo Nation, the
Jicarilla Apache Tribe, the Native American Rights Fund, the
Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, the
Northern Ute, the Southern Ute Tribe, the Council of Energy
Resources Tribes, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Minerals
Management Service -- all members of the earlier study group. 
New to the committee are representatives from industry, including
Conoco, Inc. and  Meridian Oil, Inc.

  The Department has tried to establish a committee membership
that will effectively represent the needs of all stakeholders. 
However, additional parties are invited to submit applications
for representation to the MMS by February 17.  For information,
contact Don Sant at (303) 231-3899.

  "MMS will continue to create better service for our
consituents by involving our customers in those issues which
directly affect them, "said MMS Acting Director Cynthia
Quarterman, "This partnership should result in simpler rules and
better decisions, which is something we all want."

  MMS is the federal agency that manages and regulates the
nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the
Outer Continental Shelf, and collects and disburses revenues from
offshore federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases
on federal and Indian lands.
                                --MMS-RMP--