In compliance with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced it will offer approximately 958,202 acres off Alaska’s southcentral coast in a lease sale scheduled for Dec. 30, 2022. The IRA directed BOEM to hold the sale by Dec. 31, 2022.

Cook Inlet Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258 will offer for lease 193 blocks in the northern part of the Cook Inlet Planning Area in federal waters, stretching roughly from Kalgin Island in the north to Augustine Island in the south.

The lease sale will be accessible via a link on www.boem.gov/ak258 starting at 9 a.m. Alaska Time (1 p.m. Eastern) on Dec. 30, 2022. The opening and reading of the bids will begin at 10 a.m. Alaska Time (2 p.m. Eastern). The BOEM Alaska Regional Office must receive all bids by 10 a.m. Alaska Time on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022.

In late Oct. 2022, BOEM published a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the lease sale that analyzed the important environmental resources and uses (e.g., sea otter and beluga whale populations; subsistence activities; commercial fishing of Pacific salmon and halibut) that exist within the Cook Inlet Planning Area and identified robust mitigation measures to be considered in leasing the area. Mitigation measures identified in the Final Notice of Sale will help protect sea otters, beluga whales, and subsistence, recreational, and commercial fisheries.

The lease sale terms include stipulations to protect biologically sensitive resources, mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species, and avoid potential conflicts associated with oil and gas development in the region. BOEM’s proposed economic terms are designed to encourage diligent development while ensuring a fair return to taxpayers. A full list of terms and conditions are in the Final Notice of Sale.

The Final Notice of Sale (FNOS), a copy of the Record of Decision (ROD) affirming the sale, a map of the lease sale area, and instructions for bidding are available at www.boem.gov/ak258. 

Original source can be found here