Disputed Inlet oil lease sale from 2022 affirmed Federal officials planning new
Interior launches offshore leasing program
and sustain domestic oil and gas pro- duction. The proposal includes as many as 34 offshore lease sales across 21 of 27 existing Outer Continental Shelf planning areas, covering 1.27 billion acres. That includes 21 areas off the coast of Alaska. “Offshore oil and gas development requires long-term vision, steady policy and the confidence for companies to in - vest in American energy. For years, that confidence was undercut by the Biden Administration’s failed leasing policies,” said Jarrod Agen, Executive Director of the National Energy Dominance Council. “By putting a real leasing plan back on track, we’re restoring energy security, protecting American jobs, and strengthening the nation’s ability to lead on energy for decades to come.
years of planning, investment, and hard work before barrels reach the market,” said Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior. “The Biden Administra- tion slammed the brakes on offshore oil and gas leasing and crippled the long-term pipeline of America’s off - shore production. By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that America’s offshore indus - try stays strong, our workers stay em- ployed and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come.” Under the new proposal for the 2026–2031 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the Interior Department is taking a major step to boost U.S. energy independence
The Department of the Interior recently announced a Secretary’s Order titled “Unleashing American Offshore Energy,” directing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to take the necessary steps, in accordance with federal law, to terminate the re- strictive Biden 2024–29 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and replace it with a new, ex- pansive 11th National Outer Continen- tal Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program by October. As part of the directive, the Department released the Secretary’s Draft Proposed Program for the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. “Offshore oil and gas production does not happen overnight. It takes
alyze impacts to endangered Cook In - let beluga whales and other resources. Gleason ordered BOEM to do the new analysis of beluga and other resource impacts, putting the sole lease that was sold into suspension. In response to Gleason’s order, BOEM compiled a supplemental en - vironmental impact statement, com- pleting that work in three months. The agency considered three ad - ditional alternatives that would have increased protections for belugas and other resources, but it rejected those and kept the original plan in place, ac- cording to the document. “As LS 258 has already occurred, selecting any alternatives other than those described above would not af- firm that lease sale and would void the one lease issued as a result of it,” the Federal Register notice said. In its supplemental environmen- tal impact statement, BOEM asserted that the risks of leasing and the devel- opment that would result from it are minor for Cook Inlet belugas and other marine mammals. “The likelihood of a large oil spill affecting Cook Inlet marine mammals is relatively low, but the consequenc - es could affect some populations. Sea otters face the highest vulnerability from a large spill due to their depen- dence on fur for insulation, resulting in a moderate impact level. Cook In- let beluga whales are at risk due to the small population size, but geograph- ic and temporal factors substantially reduce the risk of exposure to a large spill, yielding a minor overall impact level,” the document said. The agency’s impact statement also describes impacts of noise as minor. While Cook Inlet belugas are highly de - pendent on hearing other whales’ calls to navigate the murky waters, ship and
industrial noise that would drown out those calls “are expected to be tempo- rary, with anticipated localized effects on beluga behavior and no anticipated long-term effect on survival or fit - ness.” Additionally, no injuries to be - lugas are expected from lease-related activities, the document said. The three new alternatives that BOEM considered would have added new protections for marine mammals and for subsistence and commercial fishing. Those alternatives would have reduced the available leasing territory in different increments, ranging from about one fifth to nearly half, accord - ing to the document. Including the lease sold in 2022, there are currently eight active leases in federal waters of Cook Inlet, all held by Hilcorp. The Trump administration has al- ready started planning a new Cook In - let oil and gas lease sale, the first of six nearly annual sales mandates for the inlet through 2032 under the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Additionally, the administration included five Cook Inlet lease sales among the 21 it has proposed for fed - eral waters off Alaska through 2031. Those 21 sales are proposed in the ad - ministration’s five-year outer conti - nental shelf oil and gas leasing plan, released in the fall. It envisions oil de- velopment in nearly all federal waters off the state’s coasts. The five-year plan drew praise from Gov. Mike Dunleavy. “Once again, the Trump Adminis- tration is leading the way to American energy dominance by restoring confi - dence in the federal government’s off - shore leasing policies,” Dunleavy said at the time in a post on social media.
lease sales in Inlet The Trump Administration in late December affirmed a federal Cook Inlet oil and gas lease sale held at the end of 2022, asserting that impacts to endan - gered beluga whales and other resourc- es were adequately considered and no changes in the leasing plan are needed. In a Federal Register notice, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage - ment announced its decision to uphold Lease Sale 258 as held. The decision “balances the national policies man- dated by Congress to expeditiously and safely develop the natural resources of the (Outer Continental Shelf), sub- ject to environmental safeguards, in a manner that is consistent with the maintenance of competition and other national needs,” the notice said. The lease sale, mandated by Con - gress in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, offered 193 blocks over near - ly 1 million acres, but it drew only one bid. The sole bid was from Hilcorp, the dominant oil and gas operator in the Inlet. Planning for the sale started in 2020, but two years later, the Biden Administration canceled it, citing a lack of industry interest. The sale was res - urrected by a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that was inserted by then-Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Vir - ginia. That provision required Lease Sale 258 to be held by the end of 2022; it was ultimately held on Dec. 30 of that year. Environmental groups that sued to block the sale secured a victory after it was held. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled in July 2024 that pre-sale studies failed to properly an -
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THE LINK: The Official Magazine of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance | WINTER 2026
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