MMS said the areas are made available for leasing through a “special interest” process that is new to the Alaska Region. The agency's call for information and nominations asked industry to “nominate specific areas where they were willing to commit to exploration.”

“These frontier areas could have a great amount of resources, but because of their remoteness they also have high costs associated with exploring and developing any resources that might be found,” said MMS Regional Director John Goll. “This approach allows us to test interest for access to the area without spending a lot of on a full upfront evaluation. We will ask again next year.”