November NPR-A Oil & Gas Lease Sale Announced
October 02, 2014
The lease sale, the fourth since President Obama directed the Secretary of the Interior in 2011 to conduct annual oil and gas lease sales in the NPR-A, includes 270 tracts that cover about 3 million acres. The Notice of Sale will be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register. “The November sale is in line with the Administration’s commitment to expand domestic energy production,” said BLM Director Neil Kornze, who attended and opened last year’s NPR-A sale. “The BLM has taken a balanced approach to development in the NPR-A to ensure that future production is done safely and responsibly while protecting the subsistence resources of Alaska Natives and the habitat of world-class wildlife populations.” Since 1999, nine previous lease sales have generated more than $263 million. Currently, 207 authorized leases cover more than 1.75 million acres. Tracts available for lease are consistent with the NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan finalized in February 2013. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said in a prepared statement, “I wish I could applaud the administration for planning another lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve. Unfortunately, this sale – like the previous one – is simply a diversion." Murkowski said, “The president likes to say he supports production, but his actions tell a different story. In Alaska, where the federal government controls more than 60 percent of the land, there is zero oil and gas production from federally managed lands. And under his leadership, fully half of the 23.5-million-acre NPR-A is off limits. The results of the last lease sale in NPR-A predictably raised little interest – and for good reason." “The truth is that another lease sale is meaningless if the administration continues to refuse to allow development to move forward," said Murkowski. "Alaskans have seen nothing but excuses and delays at Greater Moose’s Tooth and CD-5. If companies cannot build roads and bridges to access their acreage, then leases are worthless. The administration knows this." Murkowski said, “The NPR-A is also just one area of Alaska with oil and gas potential – and not even the most promising one. If the president truly wants to claim he supports oil and gas production on federal areas, he needs to stop blocking development in Alaska’s offshore and the Arctic coastal plain. “Words are cheap and Alaskans are tired of empty promises,” said Murkowski. Murkowski is the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee, the authorizing and appropriating committees with jurisdiction over the Interior Department. U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) described today’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announcement as a “positive step for resource development in Alaska” but called for resolution of litigation in order to keep development on track. Begich said in a prepared statement, “Production of oil in the NPR-A is crucial for Alaska’s economic future and is essential for meeting out nation’s energy needs. That’s why I’ve been fighting to streamline the permitting process, resolve ongoing litigation, and keep development at CD-5 and GMT-1 moving forward,” said Begich. “Alaskans are excited about production so that we can, for the first time, begin to produce oil and gas from federal lands in the NPR-A.” So far only exploratory drilling has occurred within the NPR-A. ConocoPhillips has spent $450 million to date to bring CD-5 online by end of 2015 and will invest similar amounts for GMT-1. ConocoPhillips Alaska currently is pursuing a right-of-way grant and related authorizations to support development of petroleum resources at the Greater Mooses Tooth Unit. This project would facilitate the first production of oil from federal lands within the NPR-A. The BLM, which sought public input on tract nominations for lands in the NPR-A planning areas that are not currently leased or deferred from leasing, made its selections based on an evaluation of the comments received; natural resource information; resource potential; industry interest; and subsistence values. The comment period ran from June 3, 2014, through July 18, 2014. The BLM will open sealed bids at 1 p.m. on November 19, in the Anchorage Federal Office Building, 4th floor, Denali Room, 222 W. 7th Ave. Additional information on this lease sale can be found at www.blm.gov/ak.
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