WASHINGTON D.C.: In the first federal auction in the Alaska region in more than five years, the US government received just a single bid for oil and gas drilling rights from Hilcorp Alaska.
The offer of nearly 1 million acres in the Cook Inlet was among the concessions to the oil and gas sector included in President Joe Biden's signature climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Hilcorp Alaska is a unit of Texas-based Hilcorp Energy LP, the largest privately owned energy producer in the US.
The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which oversees offshore energy development, announced that Hilcorp submitted the only bid for the block for $63,983.
Five environmental groups sued the administration last week to block the sale, claiming it had not adequately assessed the auction's repercussions for threatened species, such as the Cook Inlet beluga whale and humpback whales.
A 90-day evaluation process will now be held to ensure that taxpayer's receive fair market value before a lease is awarded.
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