The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced on 17 June 2020 preliminary results from the competitive oil and gas leasing in the Alaska Peninsula Areawide 2020 (APA 2020) and the Cook Inlet Areawide 2020W (CIA 2020W) Lease Sales. Bidding opened on 19 May 2020 and the deadline to submit bids online through EnergyNet was 11 June 2020 at 4:00 p.m. ADT. The results were made available to the public online at the Division of Oil & Gas lease sale website on 17 June 2020 at 9:00 a.m. ADT.  A total of three bids were received in the CIA 2020W lease sale, all from Hilcorp Alaska. The operator submitted sole bids totaling USD 178,778.96 on tracts CI0805 (directly south of BlueCrest's Cosmopolitan field offshore), and CI0840 and CI0841 (two onshore tracts on the west side of the inlet) covering a total of 7,146 ac (29 sq km). A map of these tracts can be found here. The CIA 2020W lease sale included approximately 3.3 million ac (13,355 sq km) of state-owned land in 833 tracts, ranging in size from 640 - 5,760 ac (3 - 23 sq km). The sale area encompassed onshore and offshore acreage that extends from Wasilla in the north to Anchor Point in the southeast, then along Alaskaâs Submerged Lands Act boundary in Cook Inlet to the Iniskin Peninsula. Portions of these tracts are located within the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the Matanuska â Susitna Borough, and the Municipality of Anchorage. There was a required minimum bid of USD 5 per acre with a royalty rate of 12.5% and a primary lease term of 8 years. Annual rental rates start at USD 5 per acre in Years 1 - 4 and escalate to USD 10 per acre in Years 5 - 8. A map of the available tracts can be found here.  No bids were received in the APA 2020 lease sale. The APA 2020 lease sale included approximately 5 million ac (20, 234 sq km) of state-owned land in 1,004 tracts, ranging in size from 1,280 - 5,760 ac (5 - 23 sq km). The sale area encompassed onshore and offshore acreage that stretches from the Nushagak Peninsula in the north, down the north side of the Alaska Peninsula to just north of Cold Bay. Portions of these tracts are located within the Bristol Bay Borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough, the Aleutians East Borough, and the Dillingham Census Area. There was a required minimum bid of USD 5 per acre with a royalty rate of 12.5% and a primary lease term of 10 years. Annual rental rates start at USD 1 per acre in Year 1, escalate by USD 0.5 per acre every year, topping out at USD 3 per acre in Years 5 â 10. A map of the available tracts can be found here.  All apparent high bids are subject to further lease adjudication before being officially awarded.
United States (Cook Inlet B. (Cook Inlet Tertiary Province)) Cosmopolitan