Beaufort Sea Sale 186 Set for September

The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service has issued the Final Notice of Sale for Beaufort Sea OCS Lease Sale 186. The final notice describes the sale area and requirements for protecting the environment. The lease sale is scheduled for September 24, 2003. The Department will offer the entire sale area for lease with the exception of two deferral areas recommended by Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski. MMS will defer 26 blocks off Barrow and 28 blocks offshore Kaktovik used for subsistence whaling by these communities. The sale area extends from the Canadian border on the east to near Barrow on the west, and includes approximately 1,794 whole or partial blocks that encompass about 9.4 million acres offshore Alaska’s northern coast in the Beaufort Sea.