ALASKA OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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More than 1.4 million acres of land in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska have been leased to five oil and gas companies, the Bureau of Land Management said Sept. 23.
BLM approved the bids from June's lease sale totaling $53.9 million for 123 tracts in the northwest planning area of the reserve and a portion of its northeast planning area.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp., ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc., Petro-Canada (Alaska) Inc. and Fortuna Exploration LLC paid a combined $4.2 million for the first year of their 10-year leases, BLM officials said.
That money is to be split evenly between the state and the U.S. Treasury.
"I am excited about the validation of the bids and the fact that we have some new players in the petroleum reserve. Developing these leases will help extend the life of the trans-Alaska pipeline and help support the quality of life we have in America," said BLM Alaska director Henri Bisson in a statement.
Petro-Canada and Fortuna Exploration, a subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc. of Canada, were first-time bidders in June's lease sale.
The federal government has touted the NPR-A as a means of boosting declining production on Alaska's North Slope and increasing domestic sources of oil.
Unlike the politically charged debate of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the east, the reserve has already had several oil and gas lease sales. But the region is remote and without infrastructure, and little exploration has occurred there.
The reserve covers about 23.5 million acres of public land west of Prudhoe Bay. Estimates of oil reserves in the NPR-A range from about 6 billion to 13 billion barrels of oil.
The recently leased land covers more than 5 million acres in the northwest region of the NPR-A.
A court case challenging the lease sale is still pending in federal court. That lawsuit, filed by seven environmental groups, contends the BLM sale violated environmental protection laws and ignored sensitive habitat for North Slope birds, wildlife and whales.
The judge in the case has ruled that leaseholders would not be able to occupy any of the land until the lawsuit is resolved. A ruling is expected in the fall.
The companies must also receive permits before any exploratory drilling can be done.
There is little information about the companies' plans to drill in the NPR-A this winter. Edward Bovy, spokesman for BLM, says ConocoPhillips has filed six notices of staking on sites the company already leases in the northeast region of the NPR-A.
The staking notice is the first step toward drilling. BLM staff must visit the proposed drilling site and an environmental analysis must be made, Bovy said.
Other sites leased by ConocoPhillips, Anadarko and Total E&P USA have completed paperwork and environmental analyses, and drilling could begin when the winter season opens, Bovy said.
ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Dawn Patience said the company will announce its exploration plans this winter, and that decisions on drilling in the NPR-A have not yet been made.
BLM also is proposing opening up another 387,000 acres for oil and gas leasing in the northeastern region of NPR-A, amending a 1998 plan that had protected wildlife habitats, including Teshekpuk Lake. |
