Final decision on first Beaufort Sea areawide sale due in July

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

The state has given public notice of intent to issue a final finding and decision on the proposed areawide Beaufort Sea oil and gas lease sale.

The sale, the first areawide sale in the Beaufort Sea, covers approximately 2.12 million acres of state-owned lands in the Beaufort Sea and shore lands along the Arctic coast between the Canadian border in the east and Barrow in the west. The sale is located entirely within the North Slope Borough.

A preliminary finding by the director of the Division of Oil and Gas of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources was issued for public review Dec. 15. At the same time the division issued an analysis of the sale’s consistency with the Alaska and North Slope Borough’s coastal management programs.

There are 573 tracts ranging in gross area from 640 to 5,760 acres. After bids are received, the division will do title work on tracts receiving bids. Lands within the sale area covered by existing leases will be included in this sale if relinquished by June 1; lands released from leased status after that date would be offered in the next areawide Beaufort Sea oil and gas lease sale in May 2000.

If a decision is made that the proposed sale best serves the interests of the state, bidders packets will be available on or about July 1. The sale is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 13.