science
US Holds Arctic Refuge Oil and Gas Lease Sale, Receives Bids on Five Tracts
The Bureau of Land Management auctioned 58 tracts in Alaska's Coastal Plain on Friday, receiving bids on five tracts from two entities for roughly $3.7 million. Half the revenue goes to the state by law.
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The Bureau of Land Management conducted an oil and gas lease sale for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on June 5. The agency offered approximately 60 tracts and received bids on five tracts from two bidders. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority submitted the highest bids and secured three tracts.
HEX Energy submitted bids on the remaining two tracts. The sale generated approximately $3.7 million in total revenue, with half allocated to the state of Alaska.
The auction marked the first lease sale conducted under the current administration for this portion of the refuge. The total revenue was smaller than a lease sale held in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in March, which generated approximately $250 million.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge lies in Alaska's northeast corner and spans an area roughly the size of South Carolina. The refuge provides habitat for black, brown, and polar bears, caribou, wolves, wolverines, and more than 200 bird species. The Coastal Plain region is more than 600 miles from Anchorage and borders Canada.
There are no established roads, trails, or facilities in the refuge, and only one established village, Kaktovik, is located in the Coastal Plain. The area is on the traditional homelands of the Iñupiat and Gwichʼin peoples.
Drilling has been authorized in the region since 2017. The last seismic testing conducted in the area occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. Local leaders have expressed hope that new studies will take place in the coming winter.
