State email problems delay paperwork deadline in North Slope oil lease sales

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas on Thursday gave bidders in this year's North Slope and Beaufort Sea oil and gas lease sales until Wednesday to finish their paperwork, after problems with state email on the day bidding closed.

The bids themselves are still set to be made public Wednesday morning.

Each year, the state auctions leases that give companies the right to explore for oil and gas on state land and waters on the North Slope and in the Beaufort Sea. Winning bidders pay for their leases, then annual rent, and the state gets a royalty, a share of any oil or gas eventually produced.

Last year's sales drew $17.5 million in high bids on 287 tracts, the most tracts leased since 2014 and the most money since 2018. This year, the state opened bidding Oct. 20 on nearly 8 million acres in three areas: the Beaufort Sea, the North Slope and the North Slope Foothills. It raised the minimum bid in the North Slope and Beaufort Sea sales from $25 to $35 an acre.

Bidding closed Nov. 12. Problems with State of Alaska email service that day left bidders less time to wire their bid deposits and send in signed bid forms, the division said in its notice Thursday. Bidders now have until 2 pm Wednesday, Nov. 18. Nothing else about the sales changes.

The division still plans to post the list of bids at 9 am Wednesday, five hours before the new deadline. Winners won't be determined until all the bids are adjudicated, or formally reviewed, which the notice says may happen after the 2 pm deadline.