BLM accepts all NPR-A sale high bids
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Dec. 16 that it has accepted all high bids submitted at the Sept. 24 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas lease sale and will issue leases by Jan. 1.
BLM said it has mailed lease offers to the companies who submitted the high bids: Anadarko Petroleum Corp., ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., Petro-Canada (Alaska) Inc., FEX L.P. and Petro-Hunt LLC.
These companies submitted high bids of almost $31 million for 150 tracts in the Northwest and Northeast portions of NPR-A.
If the companies accept the lease offers and return them to BLM with payment for the balance of the bonus bid, the annual rental and the lease processing fee, BLM-Alaska will issue the leases for 10-year terms.
“I’m pleased with the successful completion of the Supplement to the Northeast EIS and the lease sale process,” said BLM-Alaska State Director Tom Lonnie. “The BLM’s land use planning process ensures that we establish protections for the environment while permitting oil and gas development activities that will help meet the nation’s energy needs.”
There are currently 335 leases on 3,086,492 acres within NPR-A. The September lease sale included high bids on approximately 1.7 million acres within the 23 million-acre petroleum reserve.
—Petroleum News
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