State supplements Beaufort sale finding

Petroleum News

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has supplemented the best interest finding for the Beaufort Sea areawide lease sale and issued no substantial new information decisions for both the Beaufort Sea and North Slope Foothills areawide lease sales.

Division Director Chantal Walsh said in a May 1 decision that information received warrants a revision to the description and boundary for the Beaufort Sea sale allowing the division to offer all state of Alaska and Arctic Slope Regional Corp. jointly owned tracts within a single areawide sale boundary.

Formerly those tracts were split between the Beaufort Sea and North Slope areawide lease sale areas.

This revision involves 21 640-acre tracts, a total of some 13,440 acres.

The Beaufort Sea final best interest finding was issued in 2009; it was supplemented in 2010 and 2011; decisions of no substantial new information were issued 2012-17.

The North Slope Foothills final BIF was issued in 2011; decisions of no substantial new information were issued 2012-17.

The director found that a supplement for revision to description and boundary for the Beaufort Sea areawide lease sale is warranted.

Tracts jointly owned by the state and ASRC within the 2009 Beaufort Sea areawide BIF boundary have been included in the 2018 North Slope areawide lease sale area. The tracts are on the northwestern edge of the North Slope areawide sale area.

- Petroleum News