Lease sale in Alaska petroleum reserve draws modest interest
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal sale of oil leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska has again drawn a modest response.
The Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday received 16 bids on 16 tracts covering 272 square miles (705 sq. kilometres), the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported .
The BLM had offered 254 tracts on more than 4,375 square miles (11,330 sq. kilometres).
Federal officials said the modest bidding could be attributed to the lack of access to the most prospective areas. BLM received seven bids in a 2017 lease sale.