Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas has issued the final best interest finding for a geothermal lease sale on 16 tracts of state land on the southern flank of the Mount Spurr volcano, on the west side of the Cook Inlet.
“I conclude that the potential benefits of the Mount Spurr Geothermal Lease Sale No. 3, as conditioned, outweigh the possible adverse impacts, and that the sale will best serve the interests of the State of Alaska,” said Kevin Banks, acting division director, in the final finding document. Tom Irwin, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources concurred with Banks’ conclusion.
In the final finding the division has incorporated some changes to its preliminary findings document that it issued in December, as a consequence of comments received from the public.
There’s no word yet on a date for the lease sale — the division told Petroleum News June 18 that it is working on the lease sale schedule following the decision on the best interest finding.
For the complete story see the June 22 edition of Petroleum News available to subscribers online Friday, June 20 at noon at www.PetroleumNews.com
