RFP out for exploration licensing PBIFs

The state is looking for a contractor to write the preliminary best interest findings for exploration license proposals it received two years ago.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas, issued a request for proposals May 19 for portions of preliminary best interest findings for exploration licenses in the Crooked Creek-Circle and Houston-Willow areas.

The RFPs are for a one-year contract; each has a maximum bid amount of $40,000; and proposals are due June 11.

The state received the two exploration license proposals in April 2007 and requested competing proposals in December of that year. The state received no competing proposals and released the two proposals for public comment in April 2008.

The exploration licensing program was initiated in the early 1990s to encourage exploration in Alaska’s underexplored frontier basins; acreage in the state’s areawide leasing program is off limits for exploration licensing.

There is no upfront payment for exploration licenses; instead proposals are for minimum work commitments in dollars. A license recipient must post a bond in the amount of the work commitment and pay a $1-per-acre license fee.

The state accepts applications for exploration licenses each April; the DNR commissioner may issue a notice requesting proposals to explore a designated area at any time.

BGI North America LLC is the applicant in the Crooked Creek-Circle basin, east of Central and south of Circle.

LAPP Resources Inc. is the applicant in the Houston and Willow area, north and east of the Parks Highway.

—Kristen Nelson