State Beaufort Sea sale set for Feb. 24

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas said Dec. 20 that it will hold a Beaufort Sea areawide oil and gas lease sale Feb. 24. Bid opening will begin at 9 a.m. in Suite 240 at the Atwood Building, 550 W. 7th Ave., Anchorage.

The Beaufort sale, typically held in the fall with the North Slope and North Slope Foothills sales, was postponed due to an administrative error. Division Director Kevin Banks said at the fall sale that the state was doing a new best interest finding and failed to advertise it in a statewide newspaper.

The best interest finding was issued Nov. 9.

Banks said in late October at the bid opening for the other sales that the Beaufort sale would be held in either February or March, with another Beaufort Sea sale in 2010 in the normal fall timeframe.

The minimum bonus bid is $10 per acre for all tracts. Tracts 1 through 26 have a fixed royalty rate of 12.5 percent; all other tracts have a fixed royalty rate of 16.66667 percent.

Tracts 1 through 26, 40 through 77, 500 through 554 and 556 have lease terms of 10 years; all other tracts have terms of seven years.

Complete details on the lease sale are available on the division’s Web site at www.dog.dnr.alaska.gov.

—Petroleum News