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DNR finds no substantial new sale info
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources issued a decision of no substantial new information July 13 for this fall’s Beaufort Sea, North Slope and North Slope Foothills areawide oil and gas lease sales.
DNR issued a call for new information in February; the comment period closed in March.
The Division of Oil and Gas was looking for any substantial new information that had become available since the best interest findings for the sales were issued: in 2009 for the Beaufort Sea; in 2008 for the North Slope; and in 2011 for the North Slope Foothills.
Best interest findings are good for 10 years once issued; substantial new information is requested annually prior to sales.
DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan said in the decision that the department received comments from Peter McKay of Kenai on the sales stating that the Feb. 15 blowout at Repsol’s Qugruk No. 2 well set a new benchmark for well blowout response in the Arctic during winter and stating that the state must develop lease stipulations and mitigation measures ensuring that the permit holder does a better job of responding to and controlling releases of oil and gas when they occur.
Supplement not justified The Division of Oil and Gas said in the decision that the current findings contain lessee advisories alerting lessees that the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation requires an approved oil discharge prevention and contingency plan before operations can begin. The division that that plan must include a response action plan describing how a spill response would occur, a prevention plan describing spill prevention measures at the facility and supplemental background and verification information.
The division said the comments do not mention “any research, studies, or data directly relevant to the matters listed” in statute that have become publicly available over the last year, and therefore do not contain or reference substantial new information justifying a supplement to the current findings.
A date for the sales has not been published, but the division has indicated it plans to coordinate the sales with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s 2012 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas lease sale and BLM has said that sale is planned for November.
—Petroleum News
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