AOGA Conference Recap: ANWR Lease Sale Still Scheduled For 2019

June 5, 2019

The Alaska Oil & Gas Association’s annual meeting, held Thursday, May 30^th in Anchorage, was generally an upbeat affair.

With information from industry executives and guest speakers filling the day, the conference’s theme, “Alaska: Back on the Map”, celebrated our state’s role in President Trump’s call for American energy dominance and independence.

There was buzz around the Dena’ina Center when Lt. Governor Kevin Meyer announced that both BP and Exxon had committed $10 million each toward the Alaska Gasline project.

There was buzz when U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke about the role Alaska has in the national energy agenda, stating in a post-conference Tweet, “I discussed the hard work, persistence, & good policy that has gotten us to place where we’re optimistic about Alaska’s energy future. There are huge opportunities awaiting us, but we have to lead on infrastructure and increased innovation in the Arctic.”

The biggest buzz came from Joe Balash, Interior’s assistant secretary for land and minerals management, when he outlined the timeframe the department will be focused on for forging ahead with development in ANWR. After stating that the final environmental impact statement (EIS) would be published in August, he noted, to enthusiastic applause:

“And once we have a final EIS we’ll be in a position to issue a record of decision and notice of lease sale. And that lease sale will happen in 2019.”

While environmental extremists will no doubt continue to aggressively fight the opening of less than 2% of ANWR’s lands to development, Power The Future extends its thanks to Interior for the work they’re doing to continue responsibly developing America’s energy opportunities, putting people to work, and creating American energy independence.