Feds propose second Cook Inlet oil lease sale on the same terms after first drew no bids

The federal government on Friday proposed offering about 1.05 million acres of Cook Inlet for oil and gas leasing in March, on the same terms as a sale earlier this year that drew no bids.

Federal law requires it. The budget law Congress passed in July 2025 calls for at least six Cook Inlet lease sales: one a year from 2026 through 2028 and again from 2030 through 2032. Each must offer at least 1 million acres, and each must use the same lease terms as a Cook Inlet sale held in 2017. The sales take their name from the law's nickname, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This one is called Big Beautiful Cook Inlet 2.

The first, Big Beautiful Cook Inlet 1, offered the same area. When bids were due on March 3, there were none, according to the agency's sale page. The agency has not said why.

The terms set by Congress would give winning bidders 10-year leases. The minimum bid is $25 per hectare, about $10 an acre, and the royalty rate is 12.5%, with no royalty relief. Rent starts at $13 per hectare a year and rises to $20. The agency says the 12.5% royalty rate is meant to encourage industry participation.

When those terms were first offered in 2017, Hilcorp Alaska was the only bidder. It won 14 tracts covering about 76,600 acres for about $3 million in high bids, according to the Interior Department.

The new sale would cover 224 blocks in the northern part of the federal Cook Inlet planning area, from Kalgin Island south to Augustine Island.

The proposed notice is scheduled to publish Tuesday in the Federal Register. The governor and affected local governments then have 60 days to comment on the sale's size, timing and location. Sealed bids would be due March 2, 2027, and opened the next day.

The sale is being run by the Marine Minerals Administration, which the Interior Department created July 10 by merging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Acting Director Michael D. Olsen signed the notice.