BLM Approves First Federal Production Well in NPR-A

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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved a drilling permit and has offered a right of way for the proposed Greater Mooses Tooth Unit oil and gas development project, opening the way for the first production of oil and gas from federal land in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). Nearly the size of Indiana, NPR-A, located on Alaska’s North Slope, is the largest single block of federally managed land in the U.S.

By law, BLM administers NPR-A for purposes of oil and gas development, along with protection of areas containing significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, or historic or scenic value. The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976, which transferred NPR-A from the U.S. Navy to the Department of Interior, mandates protection of special areas while also providing for development of oil and gas resources.

The Greater Mooses Tooth project, proposed by ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., includes construction of an 11.8-acre drilling pad on the Northern portion of the 23-million-acre NPR-A. Along with aboveground elevated pipelines and an electric power line, the project will provide access to both federal and Arctic Slope Regional Corp. oil and gas reserves. Arctic Slope Regional Corp. was established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, enabling development of petroleum resources from corporation-owned lands.

BLM’s 2013 Integrated Activity Plan identified 11 million acres in NPR-A for protection of natural values, while making nearly 12 million acres and 72% of the technically and economically recoverable oil available for development. Currently, 212 authorized leases cover more than 1.75 million acres in the reserve. However, only exploratory drilling has occurred in the reserve to date. The Greater Mooses Tooth project would mark the first production and transportation of oil to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline from federal lands in NPR-A. Since 1999, 11 lease sales in NPR-A have garnered more than $261 million, half of which is shared with Alaska. On Nov. 18, BLM conducted its 12th annual lease sale in NPR-A, which included 143 additional tracts covering about 1.5 million acres.

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