Mount Redoubt can be seen across Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Mount Redoubt can be seen across Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Alaska not included in feds’ proposed 5-year oil and gas program

The plan includes a historically low number of proposed sales

No new oil and gas lease sales in Cook Inlet are included in a proposed five-year leasing program published by the federal government Friday.

Part of the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the plan includes a historically low number of proposed sales — just three, all to be held in the Gulf of Mexico between 2025 and 2029. The original iteration of the plan, published last summer, also included a sale in Cook Inlet, which would have been held in 2026.

Industry interest was low, however, in the last federal lease sale held in the inlet. Hilcorp Alaska was the only company to submit a bid during the controversial Lease Sale 258, which was held last winter and opened about 960,000 acres of seafloor between Kalgin and Augustine islands to development.

Reaction to the news of Alaska’s exclusion from the proposed plan fell largely along partisan lines.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a Friday press release that the three are the minimum number of sales required to expand the Interior Department’s offshore wind leasing program through 2030 while staying in compliance with the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The Proposed Final Program, which represents the smallest number of oil and gas lease sales in history, sets a course for the Department to support the growing offshore wind industry and protect against the potential for environmental damage and adverse impacts to coastal communities,” Haaland said.

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan condemned the exclusion of Cook Inlet from the proposed final plan in a joint press release issued Friday. Both said exclusion of Alaska in the proposed sale threatens U.S. energy security.

Murkowski said the plan shows that President Joe Biden opted to “bend to the whims of extreme environmental groups” instead of looking at the country’s long-term energy needs.

“Leaving Alaska out of this plan is particularly galling and short-sighted,” Murkowski is quoted as saying. “At a time when Southcentral needs new supplies of natural gas, the Biden administration moves to reduce access, leasing, and forces us toward imports of energy that could otherwise be produced in Cook Inlet. Once again, Alaska’s economy is pushed out into the cold.”

Sullivan called the plan “national security suicide” and “an affront to working Americans.”

“Throughout this presidency, Alaskans have been hit the hardest by these failed policies and today’s news is no different: Alaska, one of the most resource-rich places on the planet, may well have to import natural gas from foreign countries because of this administration’s policies and plans for shutting down Alaska’s Cook Inlet,” Sullivan said.

The draft plan had a lukewarm reception with environmental groups, which praised the exclusion of Cook Inlet while criticizing any new oil and gas lease sales.

Cook Inletkeeper Communications Director Bridget Maryott said in a Friday press release that, while the organization is “relieved that Lower Cook Inlet is off the chopping block,” they stand in solidarity with communities in the Gulf of Mexico that are fighting fossil fuel development.

“By locking Americans into decades of increased fossil fuel production, while the climate crisis rages on, this administration has failed to deliver on its promises of environmental justice and climate action by needlessly putting our future at risk for the sake of oil & gas profits,” Maryott said in the release.

Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen made similar comments.

“It’s very important that the Biden administration is scaling back plans for oil and gas leasing, and it’s essential to create the runway for a transition to offshore wind,” Dillen said in a Friday press release. “But this five-year plan also represents a crucial missed opportunity to minimize future oil and gas drilling.”

Per the U.S. Department of the Interior, publication of the proposed final plan kicks off a 60-day waiting period that’s required before Haaland can approve the program. The department will also separately solicit public comments on future sales in the Gulf of Mexico to help determine which blocks in the area are offered for lease.

More information about the proposed sale can be found on the U.S. Department of the Interior website at doi.gov/pressreleases.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Soldotna High School senior Josiah Burton testifies in opposition to the proposed cut of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District theater technicians while audience members look on during a board of education meeting on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
School board finance group reviews expenditures ahead of upcoming budget cycle

As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District prepares to grapple with another… Continue reading

Members of the Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee raise hands to vote in favor of a proposal during a meeting at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver salmon, personal use fishing discussed by advisory committee

The group set their recommendations on a variety of proposals to the State Board of Fisheries

Hoses pump water along Patrick Drive to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough spent almost $78k responding to flood events during disaster declaration

Most of the funds were spend in the northwest area of Kalifornsky Beach Road

The National Weather Service’s map shows a winter weather advisory, in orange, effective for much of the eastern Kenai Peninsula. (Screenshot)
Heavy snow, blowing winds forecast for Turnagain Pass on Wednesday

Snow accumulations of up to 16 inches are expected

The Kenai Courthouse is seen on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Grand jury adds charges in October killing of Homer woman

The indictment was delivered on Nov. 8

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Anchorage resident arrested in Nikiski after troopers investigate reports of stolen vehicle

Troopers responded to a residential address in Nikiski around 11:30 a.m. after being notified by Sirius XM that a stolen vehicle was there

Santa Claus greets Hudson Reinhardt during Christmas Comes to Kenai festivities at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Getting into the holiday spirit

Christmas arrives in Kenai with fireworks, Santa and a lot of rain

Kinley Ferguson tells Santa Claus what she wants for Christmas during Christmas in the Park festivities on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Creating a winter wonderland

Christmas in the Park to bring Santa, sleigh rides, fireworks on Saturday

Flowers bloom at Soldotna City Hall on Wednesday, June 24, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna to repair failed wastewater pipe

The pipe to be repaired discharges treated effluent into the Kenai River

Most Read