The state of Alaska said in late July that it would include tracts 1 through 26, offshore the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to its list of available tracts in its Oct. 27 Beaufort Sea areawide oil and gas lease sale. The tracts had been deferred in previous areawide lease sales.
The state Division of Oil and Gas has developed “a new mitigation measure to ensure that exploration, development and production activities within tracts 1 through 26 are conducted in a manner that prevents unreasonable conflicts between oil and gas activities and subsistence whale hunting,” the state said in a legal notice.
Under new Mitigation Measure 18, the lessee has to consult with the North Slope Borough and Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to discuss how the siting, timing and methods of proposed operations can be planned and carried out to avoid potential conflicts with subsistence whale hunting.
The state said this “consultation may include negotiating a conflict avoidance agreement.”
There will also be a state North Slope areawide lease sale in Anchorage on Oct. 27. Sealed bids must be received by the division by 4:00 p.m. (local time) on October 25.
The bidding method for both sales will be cash bonus, with a minimum bid of $10 per acre.
North Slope lease terms will be seven years; Beaufort Sea leases will be both seven and 10 years, depending on location.
For more details visit the division’s website, www.dog.dnr.state.ak.us/ for sale announcements, instructions to bidders, bid forms and regional tract maps.
