MMS issues final notice for Chukchi sale

The Minerals Management Service has issued its final notice for Chukchi Sea Sale 193. The sale, scheduled for Feb. 6, will be the first federal outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sale in the Chukchi Sea since 1991.

MMS Director Randall Luthi said in a Jan. 2 news release that the agency believes the decision to hold the sale “is a good balance and will allow companies to explore this intriguing frontier area while still protecting the resources important to the coastal residents.”

“All leases will be subject to MMS’s existing regulations that include extensive requirements for safety, drilling operations and pollution prevention, plus regulations of other agencies protecting marine mammals, endangered species, and air and water quality,” Luthi said.

The sale area includes some 29.7 million acres offshore Alaska from north of Point Barrow to northwest of Cape Lisburne and extends for 25 or 50 miles to 200 miles offshore. Two sales have been held in the Chukchi Sea: Sale 109 in 1988 (351 leases issued) and Sale 126 in 1991 (28 leases issued). All leases issued in the two previous sales have expired.

Sale details are available on the MMS Web page at www.mms.gov/alaska.

—Petroleum News