DO&G issues exploration license call

Petroleum News

The Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas, has issued a call for exploration license proposals during April.

Exploration licensing supplements the state’s oil and gas leasing program and encourages oil and gas exploration outside known oil and gas provinces on the Alaska Peninsula, Cook Inlet, Beaufort Sea, North Slope and North Slope Foothills.

The division said an oil and gas exploration license holder has the exclusive right to explore between 10,000 and 500,000 acres for up to 10 years. There is no upfront bonus payment, but a licensee must commit direct expenditures for exploration.

There is a one-time licensing fee of $1 per acre with no annual rental payments.

All geological and geophysical data acquired by the licensee must be provided to the state.

As specified in 11 AAC 82.909, proposals for oil and gas exploration licenses can be submitted to the state during April of each year. Land eligible for licensing is specified in AS 38.05.131.

Applicants must submit proposals during April on forms available on the division’s website: http://dog.dnr.alaska.gov/Documents/Programs/Exploration_License_Application.pdf.

The division said an exploration license will be awarded if the proposal is found to be in the best interest of the state. If there are competing proposals for an area, applicants must submit sealed bids, with the successful bidder determined by the highest bid in terms of the minimum work commitment dollar amount.

Once the total work commitment is met, the licensee may convert all or a portion of the license area to oil and gas leases without going through a competitive bidding process.

More information is available from the division at [email protected], 907-269-8800, or at the website http://dog.dnr.alaska.gov/Services/ExplorationLicensing?page=explorationlicensing.

The state has two pending exploration licenses and three active licenses.

- Petroleum News