Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it canceled the public comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Cook Inlet OCS Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258. This is the Lower Cook Inlet lease sale near Homer.
On Jan. 27, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14008, titled “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.” Among other things, this order directs federal agencies to “pause new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices.”
A Federal Register notice formally canceling the comment period and public meetings is forthcoming.
Hilcorp is the primary company that this impacts, as it has been doing most of the exploration work in Cook Inlet and was on the first lease sale.
The 2017-2022 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Program provides for one lease sale in the federal submerged lands of Cook Inlet.
Due to cancellation of the public comment period, the virtual meetings previously scheduled for February are also canceled.
