State, federal lease sales set for Nov. 18

KRISTEN NELSON

Petroleum News

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas, will open bids for its fall lease sales Nov. 18 beginning at 9 a.m. in the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.

Also Nov. 18, the federal Bureau of Land Management will open bids for its 2015 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas lease sale at 1 p.m. in the Anchorage Federal Office Building.

Sealed bids for the NPR-A sale are required by 4 p.m. Nov. 16. The detailed statement of sale is available at the BLM Alaska web site, www.blm.gov/ak.

BLM said this year’s lease sale, the 12th in NPR-A since 1999, will include 143 tracts and cover some 1.5 million acres. There are 212 leases in NPR-A currently, covering more than 1.75 million acres.

“This annual lease sale was planned with careful consideration to balance the exploration and development of oil and gas resources with the protection of wildlife habitat and subsistence activities, such as fishing and hunting, of rural residents and Alaska Natives,” BLM Alaska State Director Bud Cribley said in a statement.

BLM sought public input on tract nominations in the NPR-A planning area, with a nomination and comment period from May 28 through June 29.

The state’s fall competitive oil and gas lease sales include: Beaufort Sea Areawide 2015W, North Slope Areawide 2015W and North Slope Foothills Areawide 2015.

DNR said the total area being offered for lease is some 7.7 million acres.

The last day for acreage to be included in the lease sales is Oct. 1 and tract maps will be available on or after Oct. 5.

The state has revised its lease forms to require that if the DNR commissioner determines existing financial assurances are insufficient to assure that the lessee will leave leases in the condition required by the state, the commissioner may require additional assurances.

Bidders must be qualified by 4 p.m. Nov. 13 and bids for the state sales must be received by the division by 4 p.m. Nov. 16.

The state sale notice and complete details (instructions, forms, and important lease sale dates) are available online at http://dog.dnr.alaska.gov/Leasing/SaleDocuments.htm. For more information call the division offices at 907-269-8800 or email [email protected].