Interior Department Cancels Oil and Gas Lease Sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet
U.S. Interior Department officials have cancelled an oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, citing “a lack of industry interest in leasing in the area.” The announcement prompted kudos from environmentalists and fishermen and strong criticism from Alaska’s two Republican senators.
“(D)ue to lack of industry interest in leasing in the area, the department will not move forward with the proposed Cook Inlet OCS oil and gas lease sale 258,” the official announcement from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on not holding the lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet states.
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management previously canceled Cook Inlet lease sales in 2007, 2008 and 2011, also citing a lack of industry interest.
Veteran journalist Larry Persily, a former ...