The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is planning to offer 1.09 million acres in Cook Inlet off Alaska’s south-central coast in Lease Sale 244, scheduled for June.
The sale would cover 224 blocks toward the northern part of the Cook Inlet planning area for leasing. The blocks stretch from Kalgin Island in the north to Augustine Island in the south.
A notice of availability will be published Feb. 27 in the Federal Register reading room, and on Feb. 28 in the Federal Register itself.
BOEM has notified Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) of the announcement, and as required by law will mail him a copy of the proposed notice of sale to arrive coincident with the Feb. 28 Federal Register notice of availability, which will initiate a governor’s 60-day review and comment period.
“Following a robust environmental analysis, we are moving forward with the Lease Sale 244 process,” said Walter Cruickshank, BOEM’s acting director. The proposed notice of sale follows the Dec. 22, 2016, publication of an environmental impact statement relating to the proposed sale.
Lease Sale 244 would be the final one in the Department of the Interior’s 2012-17 Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing program. Publication of the notice does not mean the final decision has been made to hold the lease sale.
The next step in the leasing process is the publication of the final notice of sale. Per BOEM’s regulations, this must be done at least 30 days prior to the date of the sale.
Cook Inlet lease sales in the recent past have been canceled by BOEM due to a lack of industry interest.
