State adds 200,000 acres to fall sales

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources said Oct. 25 that it has added a significant amount of previously leased acreage to the state’s North Slope areawide oil and gas lease sale in December.

An increased 200,000 acres will be available for lease in the vicinity of Point Thomson and in the Beaufort Sea due to lease expirations and other administrative actions.

“We expect interest in these areas and hope that exploration will soon follow,” Bill Barron, director of DNR’s Division of Oil and Gas, said in a statement.

Thirty tracts are being added in the Point Thomson area, eight tracts formerly part of the Point Thomson unit and 22 tracts previously deferred due to their proximity to the unit, a combined 72,000 acres.

Forty-five tracts previously included in the proposed Great Bullen unit west of Point Thomson will also be available, a combined 106,540 acres.

Five leases from the previously proposed Donkel Oil and Gas unit in the Beaufort Sea north of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have expired, an addition of 14,403 acres.

The fall areawide oil and gas lease sales in the Beaufort Sea, North Slope and North Slope Foothills encompass some 14.7 million acres. Bids will be received on Dec. 5; the bid opening is scheduled for Dec. 7.

—Petroleum News