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Shell has released Alaska Peninsula oil and gas leases
In October Shell relinquished all 33 of its State of Alaska oil and gas leases onshore and offshore the Alaska Peninsula.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith told Petroleum News Feb. 3 that Shell had relinquished the leases because the onshore and inland bay areas of the Bristol Bay region no longer fitted into the company’s exploration plans. Release of the leases will save unnecessary lease rental costs and enable the state to offer the leases at the upcoming Alaska Peninsula lease sale, he said.
On the other hand Shell is still looking to the possibility of offshore exploration in the region.
“In no way does it diminish our potential interest in the proposed 2011 OCS lease sale in the North Aleutian Basin,” Smith said.
Also federal relinquishments Shell has also relinquished 28 of its U.S. Minerals Management Service Beaufort Sea leases — these leases related to blocks of outer continental shelf tracts at the extreme west and east ends of the U.S. Beaufort Sea. One block of 19 leases lay offshore Dease Inlet at the west end of the North Slope, while the other block of nine leases lay offshore Demarcation Point near the Canadian border.
Releasing these leases will reduce the holding costs of Shell’s exploration venture, Smith said.
“We simply don’t believe they are a good fit for our exploration portfolio,” Smith said.
Smith emphasized that the relinquishment of both the Alaska Peninsula and Beaufort Sea leases occurred as part of Shell’s active management of its lease holdings and did not signal any diminishment of Shell’s interest in Alaska.
“In no way does this signal a retreat from our commitment to exploration in the Alaska offshore,” Smith said.
—Alan Bailey
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