National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Oil and Gas Lease Sale Generates $18.8 million
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Anchorage — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today generated $18.8 million at an oil and gas lease sale from the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The State of Alaska will receive 50 percent of the bid receipts, or $9.4 million. A total of 92 bids were submitted, the most since the BLM started offering annual lease sales in the NPR-A in 2011.
“We have demonstrated to all stakeholders our ability to move forward with development while also satisfying the needs for conservation. Permitting for the Greater Mooses Tooth 1 oil and gas project and advancement of other nearby development has provided opportunities for further energy production efforts in the NPR-A,” said BLM Alaska State Director Bud Cribley. “This sale is in line with the Administration’s direction to balance safe and responsible resource development in the NPR-A with protecting the subsistence resources of Alaska Natives and the habitat of world-class wildlife populations.”
The sale offered 145 tracts comprising approximately 1.4 million acres. Bids were submitted by a combination of five companies on 67 tracts on 613,000 acres. ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., in combination with Anadarko E&P Onshore, LLC, submitted 65 bids for the right to develop oil and gas lease tracts in the reserve. The highest bid of $765,878 was offered today for tract 2016-L-148. A map and table with complete 2016 sale results by tract will appear on the BLM Alaska Oil and Gas Lease Sale Page. Last year’s sale offered 1.4 million acres divided among 143 tracts in the NPR-A and generated only six bids on 28,589 acres for a total of $788,680.
In 2011, President Obama directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct annual oil and gas lease sales in the NPR-A. Lease sales had previously been held every two years. There are currently 134 authorized leases in the NPR-A that cover more than 895,000 acres. Bids received for the 12 previous sales generated a total of more than $262 million, half of which was paid to the State of Alaska for (a) planning, (b) construction, maintenance, and operation of essential public facilities, and (c) other necessary provisions of public service, with priority to use by subdivisions of the State most directly or severely impacted by development of oil and gas leased in the NPR-A.
Nearly the size of Indiana, the NPR-A, located on Alaska’s North Slope, is the largest single block of federally managed land in the United States. By law, the BLM administers the NPR-A for the purposes of oil and gas development along with protection of areas containing significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife or historical or scenic value. The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 as amended, which transferred the NPR-A from the Navy to the Department of the Interior, mandates protection of these special areas while also providing for expeditious development of oil and gas resources.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.