NPR-A lease sale set for August; both northeast, northwest tracts

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The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Nov. 24 that the Bureau of Land Management will hold a National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas lease sale on Aug. 11, 2010. The sale will include tracts in northeastern NPR-A and part of northwestern NPR-A, but DOI did not offer any specific information about which parcels of land would be included in the sale.

“We know that we have appropriate parcels that we have already considered and approved that will go forward, but we have not made a final determination of which other parcels may be included,” said BLM Director Bob Abbey.

The NPR-A lease sale announcement came as part of an announcement by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar of a schedule of 38 lease sales for onshore U.S. public lands in 2010. Salazar emphasized that the lease sale program comes as part of a national energy strategy that includes offshore wind exploration in the Atlantic, large-scale solar energy projects in the Southwest, and the construction of a national electricity transmission super highway.

“President Obama also believes that conventional resources, including oil, gas and coal, remain a vital component of a comprehensive energy plan,” Salazar said. “That is why I am pleased today to announce that our onshore oil and gas lease schedule for 2010 is ready to go.”

The lease sale program focuses on development in the right way, in the right places and with a fair return for the American taxpayer he said.

“But you wouldn’t know it if you listen to the untruths coming out of some of the corners of the oil and gas industry,” Salazar said. “Trade groups for the oil and gas industry repeatedly launch attacks that have all the poisons and deception of electioneering politics. Trade groups for the oil and gas industry need to understand that they do not own the nation’s public lands; taxpayers do.”

Most energy companies are responsible developers and employers, and Interior works with many of these companies to encourage best management practices, reclaim land and invest in conservation, Salazar said.

“We want oil and gas companies to engage with us, and to be our partners in our energy future,” he said.

But Salazar said that companies need to develop the millions of acres of public land under lease but “which today stand idle.” However, he also acknowledged the impact to both taxpayers and the industry of lease-related disputes.

“Too many leases from the federal government that are offered today and accepted by the companies get tied up in protests and in litigation,” Salazar said, adding that Interior is reviewing how to make its lease programs more efficient and rational, with more certainty in the leasing process.

—Alan Bailey