US Working on Arctic Oil Leases Despite Shutdown

By Yereth Rosen
Thursday, January 10, 2019

Even as a partial shutdown halts the functions of many U.S. government departments, forcing the Department of the Interior to close national parks, the Trump administration is continuing to push for the expansion of oil drilling on sensitive, federally owned lands in Arctic Alaska.

The Alaska Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the Interior Department, was scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday night in Wainwright, an Inupiat village on the Arctic coast, over a plan to expand oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The bureau is legally required to hold public meetings on its plans.

Wednesday marked the 19th day of a partial U.S. government shutdown caused by the failure of President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrats to agree on a spending bill that provides funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, one of Trump's key election pledges.

Nine federal departments, including the Department of the Interior - whose BLM handles permits for oil and gas drilling on public land - have been affected, to varying degrees.

The BLM has already held some public meetings about the proposed oil lease in the National Petroleum Reserve, including one last week in the Inupiat village of Nuiqsut, where some residents questioned BLM officials about the meeting’s legality.

“There were a lot of people concerned about how they’re conducting business during the shutdown,” said Martha Itta, administrator for the local tribal government in the village of about 450 people near the North Slope oil fields.

“There was even a question to them if the meeting was illegal,” she told Reuters.

A BLM spokesman in Washington said the public hearings over permits to drill in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska were exempt from the shutdown. “The Bureau continues to process permit applications as they are an exempted activity during a lapse in appropriations.” It was not clear if that applied to permits nationwide or just in Alaska.

On Wednesday, the BLM in Alaska issued a statement saying it was postponing public meetings on another oil leasing plan, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Those hearings were to be held in eight cities and villages including Anchorage, Fairbanks and Washington D.C.

It did not give a reason for the delay but said the deadline for submitting public comments is Feb 11.

The Trump administration has pushed to move quickly on lease sales in the ANWR, which it won approval to drill in through the passage of tax legislation in 2017 after decades of prohibition.

Environmental and Native groups have criticized the Interior Department for moving too swiftly on readying a lease sale later this year, saying more time is needed to consult with tribes and other locals.

Alaska's crude oil production has been sagging for years. The state produced more than 2 million barrels of oil a day (bpd) in 1988, but as of October, the most recent data available, it produced 487,000 bpd, according to the U.S. Energy Department.


(Additional reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Bill Rigby)

Categories: Legal Drilling Arctic North America Government Regulations

Related Stories

Yinson Production Secures $1.17B Refinancing for FPSO Maria Quitéria

Centrica and Thailand’s PTT Ink Long-Term LNG Supply Deal

Japan Protests China’s New Oil and Gas Construction Activities in East China Sea

CDWE Wraps Up Pin Pile Installation Job for Taiwanese Offshore Wind Farm

TPAO, SOCAR and BP to Ink Caspian Sea Oil and Gas Production Deal

Chuditch Gas Field Up for Summer Drilling Ops as Sunda Reshapes Ownership Structure

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

Hanwha Ocean Marks Entry into Deepwater Drilling Market with First Drillship

CNOOC Makes Major Oil and Gas Discovery in South China Sea

Jadestone Submits Field Development Plan for Assets Off Vietnam

Current News

One Shelf Drilling Rig Up for New Job in India, Other for Disposal

Four Jack-Up Drilling Rig Deals Set to Bring In $129M for Borr Drilling

PTTEP Hires Velesto’s Jack-Up Rig for Drilling Campaign off Malaysia

Yinson Production Secures $1.17B Refinancing for FPSO Maria Quitéria

Centrica and Thailand’s PTT Ink Long-Term LNG Supply Deal

Petrovietnam, Partners Sign PSC for Block Off Vietnam

Japan Protests China’s New Oil and Gas Construction Activities in East China Sea

CNOOC Signs Hydrocarbons Exploration and Production Deal with Kazakhstan

Thailand's PTT to Buy LNG from Glenfarne's Alaska LNG Project

Woodside and Jera Agree LNG Cargoes Supply for Japan’s Winter Period

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com