MMS
Finalizes Chukchi Sea Lease Sale
Sale Scheduled for
February 6, 2008
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
The
Minerals Management Service will hold its first Federal
Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas lease sale in the Chukchi Sea
since 1991 on February 6, 2008. The agency today issued the
Final Notice of Sale for Chukchi Sea Sale 193,
which outlines the sale area, terms and conditions for the sale, and
requirements for protecting the environment and natural resources of
the area.
“We received
excellent comments from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, North Slope
Borough Mayor Edward Itta, from other community and tribal leaders,
and industry and environmental groups. We believe our decision is a
good balance, and will allow companies to explore this intriguing
frontier area while still protecting the resources important to the
coastal residents,” said
MMS Director Randall Luthi. “All leases will
be subject to MMS’s existing regulations that include extensive
requirements for safety, drilling operations, and pollution
prevention, plus regulations of other agencies protecting marine
mammals, endangered species, and air and water quality.”
The sale area will
not include nearshore waters ranging from about 25 to 50 miles from
the coast, which includes the near-shore “polynya” through which the
bowhead and beluga whales, other marine mammals, and marine birds
migrate north in the spring, and in which local communities
subsistence hunt. Leases issued from the sale will include
stipulations to address environmental effects that may occur because
of exploration and development of the area’s oil and gas resources.
These stipulations call for protection of biological resources,
including protected marine mammals and birds and methods to minimize
interference with subsistence hunting and other subsistence harvesting
activities.
“MMS funds a
robust environmental studies program to monitor the effects of
industry activity in the OCS, including more than 40 ongoing
Arctic-specific studies,” said Luthi. “Following up on a workshop
attended by over 100 scientists and stakeholders, we are inaugurating
a new suite of research for the Chukchi Sea to further monitor marine
mammals, other communities, hydrocarbons, and subsistence uses.”
The Chukchi Sea is
considered one of the last frontier areas in North America with
potential as a significant source for oil and gas.
MMS
estimates that the Chukchi Sea area could contain 15 billion barrels
of oil (mean estimate of conventionally recoverable resources),
although exploration is needed to assess what may be commercially
available. The Final Notice also includes proposed royalty suspensions
on production subject to price thresholds.
The
Chukchi Sea Sale 193 area contains about 29.7 million acres offshore
Alaska from north of Point Barrow to northwest of Cape Lisburne. The
sale area extends from about 25 or 50 to 200 miles offshore. A
graphic map
of Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193 is available for your convenience.
(200
KB)
Two sales have
been held in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area previously. Sale 109 was
held in 1988 with 351 leases issued, and Sale 126 in 1991 with 28
leases issued. All of those leases have expired.
The
Final Notice
of Sale
(478 KB PDF file) and the Sale 193 Chukchi Sea Final EIS are available on the
MMS Alaska web page. You may view the Final EIS at libraries
throughout the state.
Media Contact:
Robin Cacy
907-334-5208
1-800-764-2627
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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Last Updated:
05/27/2008,
04:05 PM
Central Time