BOEM issues call for 2017 Beaufort sale
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued a call for information and nominations for a potential 2017 Beaufort Sea oil and gas lease sale.
The agency said the purpose of the 45-day call is to “gather information about specific areas within the Beaufort Sea Planning Area that have the most promising oil and gas resource potential, while also increasing the agency’s understanding about environmentally sensitive habitats and important social and cultural uses - including vital Alaska Native subsistence activities - that also exist within the area.”
“There is significant oil and gas potential in the Beaufort Sea, but this part of the Arctic Ocean is also a unique and sensitive environment that is critically important to the subsistence needs of Alaska Native communities on the North Slope,” said BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank in a July 25 statement. “Any consideration of future leasing must be done in a way that identifies not only the areas that have resource potential, but also those areas that must be protected for wildlife and traditional uses.”
Nominations, comments requested The call is a request for industry to “identify specific blocks in the Beaufort Sea Program Area that appear promising for oil and gas exploration and development” and asks industry to rank interest in areas from “critical interest” to “no interest.”
BOEM said that for nominations which fall outside areas the agency has determined to have high hydrocarbon potential, “the nominating company will be required to provide detailed information about the basis for its level of interest in the nominated area, including a summary of the relevant geologic, geophysical and economic information.”
The agency is also asking in the call for comments relevant to its analysis of areas for potential leasing “as well as areas that should be considered for exclusion from leasing due to conflicting values, uses or environmental concerns.”
The call for information and nominations is available on the BOEM website at: www.boem.gov/ak242 and is scheduled to appear in the Federal Register July 29, with comments due 45 days after the Federal Register publication.
Additional information about targeted leasing and a map showing the areas of high hydrocarbon potential in the planning area are also available at the link shown.
- Petroleum News
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