MMS proposes final lease sale plan
  by: OilOnline
  Tuesday, March 26, 2002

The Minerals Management Service is proposing to schedule 20 oil and gas lease sales in eight outer continental shelf planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska as part of the new Five-Year Leasing Program effective 2002-2007. The plan will be submitted to Congress for review. After 60 days, the Interior Secretary may finalize the new program, which would take effect July 1, 2002, and replace the current program due to expire at the end of June. The leasing plan is the third and final proposal required to be presented to the public before a new leasing program may be put in place.

Previous proposals included two lease sales in the Chukchi Sea/Hope Basin off Alaska. In the final schedule, the sales have been converted to a "special" category. The MMS will issue a request for interest in May 2002. If industry interest is not expressed, the sale process would end. If there is sufficient interest, the MMS would proceed with the remaining steps leading to holding the sale.

The lease sales will make available from 10.2 billion to 21.5 billion barrels of oil and 40 Tcf to 60.6 Tcf of natural gas, according to the MMS.