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Limited Bids in ANWR Coastal Plain Sale as Two Buyers Win Five Tracts

The result will show whether mandated leasing yields real exploration or stalls under legal challenges.

FILE - The Kaktovik Lagoon and the Brooks Range mountains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are seen in Kaktovik, Alaska, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
FILE - Snow covers the mountains of the Brooks Range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Oct. 14, 2024, near Kaktovik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
moose walking in front of mountains in alaska
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Overview

  • The Bureau of Land Management held the Coastal Plain lease sale on Friday and received nine bids covering five tracts across about 70,000 acres.
  • Just two bidders placed offers: state-owned Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and Hex Energy LLC, together winning the successful tracts for roughly $6 million in high bids.
  • Conservation groups urged major oil companies not to participate and have active lawsuits arguing the leasing program violates environmental laws and threats to species such as the Porcupine caribou.
  • Industry interest in the sale was far smaller than the March NPR‑A auction and followed a Cook Inlet sale that drew no bids, underscoring commercial and logistical uncertainty about developing ANWR.
  • US Geological Survey estimates put technically recoverable oil in the Coastal Plain between about 4.25 billion and 11.8 billion barrels, but sparse seismic data, harsh terrain, local divisions among Alaska Native groups, and pending litigation mean leases are only an early, uncertain step toward production.