The U.S. government's Beaufort Sea lease sale next April will offer 3,894 blocks covering 21 million acres.
The sale, No. 124, will feature tracts 3-140 miles off Alaska in 6-3,280 ft of waters. Most are in less than 300 ft of water. Leases will be for 10 years with one-eighth royalty.
MMS will not offer 1 million acres near Point Barrow that are in the spring lead area, the first open water to be exposed by receding ice. Migratory bowhead whales use those waters, which were not offered in prior sales.
Beaufort Sea sales in 1979, 1982, 1984, and 1988 resulted in issuance of 574 leases, of which 482 are still in effect. MMS said lessees have drilled 21 wildcats, eight of which were producible.
MMS said the Coastal Zone Act reauthorization amendments, passed in the final days of the last Congress, requires the sale to be consistent with state plans. That may delay the sale.
The lease stipulations will require operators to minimize potential conflicts with natives hunting bowhead whales and to monitor how drilling operations affect whale movements.
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