Trump proposes Alaska oil sale by 2026, finalizes sale of US Gulf oil leases
It was announced on Friday that the Trump administration would hold an auction to drill oil and gas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico next month. They have also proposed another one in a waterway located in southern Alaska. About 80 million acres will be available for lease in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. President Donald Trump calls it the Gulf of America. The sale on December 10 will be the beginning of 30 sales that will occur in the Gulf region until 2040. This was included in Trump’s tax law, which he signed back in July.
A proposal from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the Interior Department also included making about 1,000,000 acres of Alaska's Cook Inlet available for lease. The first of six lease sales in Cook Inlet required by law will be held on March 4, 2019. These sales are scheduled to take place annually between 2026 and 2028 and 2030 to 2032.
The sales are in line with Trump's strategy of increasing oil, coal and gas production while cutting regulations and subsidies on fossil fuels.
Matt Giacona said that the acting director of BOEM's office was in a position to move forward with a predictable and congressionally mandated lease schedule, which will support offshore oil-and-gas development for many decades.
BOEM set the lowest royalty rate possible, 12.5%, for shallow and deepwater leasing in both locations "to encourage strong participation from industry." (Reporting from Timothy Gardner in Washington, Editing by Matthew Lewis.)
(source: Reuters)