Alaska will hold an oil and gas lease sale in October spanning 14.7 million acres in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell announced Thursday.
The leases, which lie between the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, could contain 3-6 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically-recoverable oil, 500 million barrels of natural gas liquids, and 24-44 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to a state fact sheet.
Of the 24 oil and gas plays reviewed by the US Geological Survey, 12 extend into ANWR and 17 extend into NPR-A. Developers who buy state leases in these plays and drill straight down from state lands have a legal right to drain the reservoir, Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan said Thursday. However, directional drilling from these state leases would face legal difficulties, Sullivan said.
In the October 26 lease sale, Alaska will offer 576 tracts covering 2 million acres in the Beaufort Sea, 1,225 tracts covering 5.1 million acres in the North Slope and 1,347 tracts covering 7.6 million acres in the North Slope foothills. Sullivan said it would be the state's largest in 2011.
The lease sale is part of a plan Parnell announced in May to increase Alaskan oil production to 1 million b/d within the next decade. Current output is about 640,000 b/d. Sullivan said Thursday that he has been visiting with congressional members and administration officials to inform them of the lease plan and ask them to support the state's goal.
