On Wednesday, June 23rd, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority Board passed Resolution G21-18, which authorizes the authority to spend up to $1.5 million on pre-development permitting and planning work on its Section 1002 Area Oil and Gas Leases. Activities will support a phased multi-year seismic acquisition program targeted to begin in 2022.
The non-wilderness Section 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge contains an estimated 7.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Exploration, development, and production is predicted to generate 1,430 direct jobs and 6,350 indirect jobs annually and 2,480 direct jobs and 10,100 indirect jobs at peak employment. Establishing the permitting for a 3-D seismic data program starting in 2022 will support future exploration planning to reduce surface impacts and optimize field drilling efforts. Assessments of Section 1002 Area’s resource potential is based on 2-D seismic data undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey for a 1987 report.
AIDEA Chairman Dana Pruhs:
“We can reliably enhance those early oil and gas resource estimates through responsible, carefully planned, low-impact 3-D seismic surveys.”
AIDEA Executive Director Alan Weitzner:
“From seismic to drilling, significant advancements in technology have facilitated world-class environmental stewardship in Alaska’s North Slope protecting the tundra, our waterways, and wildlife within Alaska’s arctic ecosystem.”
Processed data will be used to define the most prospective locations for recoverable petroleum resources. Properly positioned drilling locations along with efforts to prevent negative surface impacts will enhance the authority’s compliance with the extensive regional, state and federal stipulations for a responsible exploration program that co-exists with regional conservation.
Edward Rexford Sr., president of the Native Village of Kaktovik and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy in a recent Newsweek op-ed:
“Nowhere will you find better regulated oil fields, and every barrel produced in Alaska is one less that needs to be produced in regions that don’t share our high standards.”
Support for developing the Section 1002 Area comes from a large number of Alaskans, including the Voice of the Arctic lñupiat, Governor Mike Dunleavy, Alaska’s Legislature, and the members of Alaska’s congressional delegation since 1980.
PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY: RFP # 21131, Section 1002 Area Oil and Gas Leases Project: Pre-Development Permitting Services | Due: July 8, 2021