The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) today issued a Notice to Lessees (NTL) highlighting a recent decision by the Director of the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of the Interior concerning the rules governing the grant or denial of requests for Suspensions of Production. The OHA decision upheld the bureau’s requirement that lessees must demonstrate a commitment to produce in order to be eligible for a suspension. Suspensions can be granted to leaseholders to extend a lease past the primary term for oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf.