By the OGJ Editors
WASHINGTON, DC, May 1 --The US Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management said Apr. 29 it will hold an oil and gas lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) on June 3 in Anchorage. The bid deadline is May 31.
About 3 million acres are being offered in the northeastern corner of the reserve, which include 298 tracts that did not receive bids in the May 1999 sale. That land will be reoffered along with one new 320 acre site located in the northeastern corner of the sale area that is adjacent to existing state leases near the Colville River Delta.
A US Geological Survey assessment of estimated oil and gas resources in the NPR-A is due to be released in mid-May and is expected to be higher than earlier calculations (OGJ Online, Mar. 28, 2002).
