MMS issues notice for March 30 Beaufort Sea OCS lease sale

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service has issued a final notice for its March 30 outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sale 195 in the Beaufort Sea. Bids will be read beginning at 9 a.m. at the Loussac Public Library in Anchorage. Final sale notice and supporting documents are available online: www.mms.gov/alaska. Bids are due March 29.

The initial lease term is 10 years and all tracts have a 12.5 percent royalty rate.

The minimum bonus bid amounts are $37.50 per hectare for Zone A blocks (closer to infrastructure) and $25 per hectare for Zone B blocks. Rental rates also vary by zone, and by the year of the lease.

There are royalty suspension provisions for first oil production, prorated by lease acreage and subject to price thresholds, which apply to all blocks, and vary by zone. The royalty suspension provisions apply only to oil and condensates.

The royalty suspension is for up to 30 million barrels of oil equivalent per lease in Zone A of the sale area and up to 45 million barrels of oil equivalent per lease in Zone B.