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Eight oil and gas lease sales proposed for Alaska in MMS 5-year plan
Eight Alaska outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sales are being proposed by the U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service for 2002-2007. The MMS said July 20 that its draft proposed five-year program for natural gas and oil activities on the federal Outer Continental Shelf would be published July 23 in the Federal Register.
Twenty sales are proposed, including eight in Alaska: three in the Beaufort Sea (2003, 2005, 2007); one in Norton Basin (2003); two in Cook Inlet-Shelikof Strait (2004, 2006); and two in the Chukchi Sea-Hope Basin (2004, 2007). In addition to Alaska, sales are proposed in the Gulf of Mexico’s western, central and eastern planning areas. Sales in the Atlantic and Pacific were not considered because of moratoria.
MMS said exploration and discoveries on the Alaska OCS can provide continuing job opportunities for Alaska workers, stabilize production in the state and help offset the nation’s increasing reliance on imported oil. The first Alaska OCS production will begin later this year when BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. begins pumping oil from its Northstar field, which lies on state and federal leases in the Beaufort Sea. Both oil, gas believed to lie in proposed Alaska areas The agency believes the proposal will provide companies the opportunity to continue the search for oil in Alaska, but also offers areas believed to contain natural gas.
“Gas production in the Southcentral region of Alaska is in decline,” said John Goll, MMS Alaska regional director. “This proposal could open the door to seeking future gas resources for Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley, and the Kenai Peninsula.”
MMS said that while areas off western Alaska are largely unexplored, they may contain substantial natural gas resources. “The areas offshore Northwestern Alaska clearly hold promise for gas reserves, although most likely in the longer term. offshore gas could be a source of energy for neighboring communities,” Goll added.
The previous five-year plan ends June 30, 2002. Comments on the draft program will be accepted until Sept. 21, a proposed program and draft environmental impact statement will be issued in the fall and there will be a 90-day comment period on the draft EIS and proposed program. A proposed final program and final EIS will be issued in spring 2002 and the Secretary of the Interior is expected to approve the new program to go into effect July 1, 2002.
Documentation is available on the MMS internet website at www.mms.gov.
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