US seeks comment on oil drilling in Alaska waters
Date: 20-Sep-01
Country: USA
The Department plans to hold three lease sales, one each in 2003, 2005 and 2007, and wants to know the environmental impact of drilling in the offshore waters.
In a notice published in Wednesday's Federal Register, the department also said it wanted to know if any oil firms are interested in leasing tracts.
The proposed drilling area would extend in northern Alaskan waters about three miles from the shoreline out to 60 miles, in water depths from 25 feet to 200 feet. A small portion of the outer limits of the area drops to 3,000 feet.
The drilling area consists of almost 1,900 tracts covering a total of 9.9 million acres.
Last week, the department asked for similar information on ten lease sales scheduled in the western and central Gulf of Mexico from 2002 through 2007.