Bidding opened May 19 for state’s first online lease sales
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Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
In a year when in-person oil and gas lease sales would have been problematic, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources had already positioned the state to hold online sales, having updated its regulations and contracted with an online sales provider.
Using the new online system, bidding opened May 19 for DNR’s first online oil and gas lease sales, the Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula areawide sales. Bidding closes June 11 and results will be available June 17, DNR said in a May 21 press release.
The state began holding lease sales in the 1960s and has relied on in-person auctions and sealed-bid openings.
DNR changed its regulations to allow for online lease applications, bids and lease payments, changes which went into effect the end of last year.
“The changes contained in these new regulations will empower the Division of Oil and Gas to apply modern digital and technical solutions to provide efficient leasing services to the oil and gas industry,” DNR Commissioner Corri Feige said Dec. 2 when the regulatory changes were filed with the lieutenant governor.
Prior to last year’s changes, bids for oil and gas leases on state land had to be submitted as paper bids, with a bid deposit, sealed by the bidder, delivered to the division and opened in public. The procedure had been the same since statehood.
EnergyNet Services DNR said the division contracted with EnergyNet Services LLC last year to use the company’s Internet platform for the spring sales, inaugurating what Feige said promises to be a relationship which will enhance the state’s ability to make its hydrocarbon resources available to broader markets.
“Our department, like all of Alaska’s state government, is working to find new ways to do business more safely, efficiently and effectively in the days of social distancing due to concerns over COVID-19,” Feige said May 21. “Our new relationship with EnergyNet will bring our leasing program into the 21st century, while making our outstanding hydrocarbon opportunities more visible and attractive in a global marketplace.”
A preview of the state’s spring sales went live on EnergyNet in late April.
DNR said EnergyNet has more than 20 years of online oil and gas sales experience and hosts sales for many state governments, trust land offices, the federal Bureau of Land Management and private companies.
Sale details are available on the division’s website.
Information on the online bidding process is at http://www.energynet.com/.
- KRISTEN NELSON
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