US gets 1 bid for oil and gas lease in Alaska’s Cook Inlet

By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press

The U.S. government says it received one bid for the right to drill offshore for oil and gas in Alaska’s Cook Inlet near habitat for bears, salmon and endangered Beluga whales. Hilcorp Alaska LLC submitted the sole bid during the sale which the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management conducted via livestream. The Interior Department in May said it wouldn’t hold the sale due to a “lack of industry interest.” But Congress passed legislation calling for a Cook Inlet lease sale by year’s end and two Gulf of Mexico lease sales next year. The provisions were part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which also included major investments to fight climate change.