By Associated Press - Wednesday, November 21, 2018

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The U.S. Department of Interior is seeking to boost oil and gas activity in northern Alaska by rolling back some leasing restrictions.

Assistant Interior Secretary Joe Balash said the department will soon begin evaluating the 2013 management plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, looking for areas where it can be revised, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Tuesday.

The Bureau of Land Management is scheduled to begin the 45-day scoping period this week to seek input on what should be considered when drafting the environmental impact statement, which will direct the work.

“We’ll let the information that comes in and the comments we get from our stakeholders and cooperators help guide our decisions but we’re pretty excited about this,” Balash said.

Since the last plan was written, advances have been made in drilling technology and the Nanushuk geologic formation has emerged, Balash said. The formation is the primary source for two discoveries that have the potential to produce more than 100,000 barrels per day. Rewriting the plan should take about a year, he said.

ConocoPhillips’ Willow prospect, one of the discoveries, is in the eastern part of the reserve. Conservation groups have urged caution when ConocoPhillips submitted its plan for the prospect, saying the nearby Teshekpuk Lake area is important waterfowl and caribou habitat and subsistence harvest areas.

“Geologists believe that the area is extremely prospective. Now, that said, the lake is also home to a tremendous collection of waterfowl that migrate through there,” Balash said.

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Information from: (Anchorage) Alaska Journal of Commerce, http://www.alaskajournal.com

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