BOEM cancels Cook Inlet sale comments

Petroleum News

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Feb. 4 that it has canceled the public comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for proposed Cook Inlet OCS oil and gas lease sale 258.

Virtual meetings scheduled for February are also canceled.

Included in Executive Order 14008, issued by President Joe Biden Jan. 27, is a direction to federal agencies to “pause new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices.”

The Cook Inlet sale is included in the 2017-2022 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Program.

BOEM said last September that it would begin preparation of an EIS to analyze potential environmental impacts of the proposed sale. A notice of availability of the draft EIS was published in the Federal Register Jan. 15, launching a 45-day comment period.

- Petroleum News