Successful Cook Inlet Lease Sale is Excellent for Southcentral Alaska

June 11, 2021

On Tuesday night’s Power The Future Energy Hour, which airs on KVNT (92.5 FM – 1020 AM and online at 1020KVNT.com) from 5:00-6:00 PM every week (with replays on Saturday nights at the same time), one of the guests was Haley Paine with the State of Alaska.  In her role as Deputy Director of the Oil and Gas Division within the Department of Natural Resources, she was able to discuss the next-day revealing of the spring lease sale of Cook Inlet tracts used for oil and gas development.

Noting the bids were due to be opened Wednesday, June 9^th at 9:00 AM, she expressed optimism for the sale.

Once the bids were revealed, Alaskans across the Southcentral region (spanning from Homer in the south to the Mat-Su Valley in the north) should have rejoiced.

A majority of Southcentral’s heat is driven by natural gas, and that gas comes primarily from Cook Inlet.  Having the winning bids driven by established, competent producers (as they were Wednesday) ensures continued responsible development of oil and gas from the area.

Taking into account the importance of reliable energy – and the jobs, state and local revenues and community engagement associated with its development – Wednesday’s bid openings brought nothing but good news for Alaska.