NPR-A lease sale to be held this spring

An oil and gas lease sale will be held in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in late April or early May. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management said in a Dec. 3 statement that the entire area identified as being available for oil and gas leasing in the environmental analysis will be offered in this sale.

A proposed notice of sale will be published in early January which will include specifics of the sale: royalty rates for specific tracts, rental rates and minimum bid amounts. Lease size will range from quarter townships (5,760 acres) to half townships (11,520 acres) depending on projected oil and gas potential and distance from existing infrastructure.

BLM said tracts having the highest potential and being closest to infrastructure would be the smallest. The leases will be for 10 years and royalty rates will be 16.67 percent for the high potential area and 12.5 percent for the low potential area. NPR-A royalties are split 50/.50 between the state and the federal government.

“Once this sale is held, it is our intent to conduct subsequent sales in the area, depending on the level of interest,” Tom Allen, state BLM director for Alaska, said in a prepared statement.