New oil and gas companies snatch up federal tracts, too

The Bureau of Land Management, holding an oil and gas lease offering a few hours after the state's sale, received $3.6 million for 20 tracts covering 141,000 acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

BLM had offered 283 tracts totaling 3 million acres and received bids on just 17 tracts – or about 6 percent.

Some companies seemed interested in leasing federal tracts adjacent to those offered by the state near the Colville River, said Artealia Gilliard, a spokeswoman for the BLM in Alaska.

"That was the rule of the day," she said.

The state Natural Resources department had hoped companies would lease adjacent state and federal tracts during the bid openings in downtown Anchorage on Wednesday.

The three successful bidders in the federal sale -- ConocoPhillips and newcomers Woodstone Resources LLC, with offices in Texas, and Colorado-based 70 & 148 LLC -- also successfully bid in the state sale, Gilliard said. It was too early to know if the companies leased adjacent state and federal land, she said.

The highest bid for a single tract was for $500,000, she said. That tract near the Colville River cost 70 & 148 LLC about $100 per acre.

BLM currently manages 169 leases covering 1.3 million acres in the northeast and northwest planning areas of NPR-A, the company said in a release.

In the northeast region, BLM has approved the Greater Mooses Tooth and the Bear Tooth unit, both operated by ConocoPhillips.

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich called the sale good news. "Combined with recent steps forward on offshore permitting and today’s state lease sale, we’re finally making progress opening federal lands and waters in Alaska’s Arctic for responsible oil and gas development," he said in a written statement.