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State of Alaska, Aleut Corp. sign agreement on oil and gas exploration
Petroleum News
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski said Dec. 18 that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aleut Corp. to hold concurrent oil and gas lease sales on their adjacent lands, and to work to facilitate the construction of transportation infrastructure to support oil and gas development in the Aleut Corp. area.
The state said this MOU is similar to one the state signed with the Bristol Bay Native Corp. last fall, “and is consistent with the administration’s policy of working with the people of the area to develop natural resources.”
“The Aleut Corporation is the other major landowner in the Alaska Peninsula area, where we believe significant, commercial quantities of oil and gas can be found,” Murkowski said in a statement.
He said the administration is pleased that the Aleut Corp. shares the vision of resource development with the state and Bristol Bay Native Corp.
“We hope to build a strong economy in cooperation with the people of the region,” the governor said. “This MOU is one marker of our commitment, along with the regional corporation, to provide a foundation for that economy.” MOU has five-year term The Aleut Corp. manages a 1.572 million acre mineral estate on behalf of its 3,250 shareholders. Some of that mineral estate, along with mineral estate belonging to the Bristol Bay Native Corp. and the state, lies in the Bristol Bay basin which, the MOU said, “has been identified as having good potential for commercial quantities of oil and gas deposits.”
The MOU runs for five years with five-year extensions at the written agreement of the parties. The agreement says the parties will work cooperatively to ensure that resource development is done in an environmentally responsible manner, will work to re-open offshore oil and gas prospects in the area and will try to synchronize the timing of leasing schedules in adjacent Native corporation and state lands.
The MOU was signed by Aleut Corp. President Martha Malavansky and Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin.
The governor said he expects to sign similar agreements with the Bristol Bay Borough, the Lake & Peninsula Borough and the Aleutians East Borough.
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