NPRA Lease Sale Shows Industry’s Interest Points North
Photo Credit: Amanda | Adobe Stock
Much like the oil commodity market itself, results for federal oil and gas lease sales in Alaska are fluctuating wildly, depending on where they take place. The first in the series, offered in federal waters of Cook Inlet, fizzled with zero bids this month. Two weeks later, bidders are showing where their interest truly lies, ponying up $163,696,722 in total receipts for 187 tracts within the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA).
The sale is the first in NPRA since 2019 and the first mandated under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. It saw the second most acreage sold in a single sale, and the revenue is the most ever, in nominal dollars, surpassing the $104 million in 1999, when leasing in the reserve resumed after a fifteen-year hiatus. Adjusted for inflation, however, the 1999 sale generated approximately $207 million in 2026 dollars.
Eleven Winning Bidders
The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offered 625 tracts across approximately 5.5 million acres. In response, eleven companies submitted bids on 187 tracts covering 1,334,967 acres. The most active bidder was North Slope Exploration, a Colorado-based unit of Armstrong Oil and Gas, winning leases on 78 tracts southwest of Teshekpuk Lake. ExxonMobil focused its bids on 24 tracts closer to the lake.
ConocoPhillips, which is already producing from units inside NPRA and is nearing completion of the Willow project, successfully bid on thirty tracts adjacent to its current positions. A section of forty-two tracts south of Teshekpuk Lake were picked up by affiliates of Repsol and Shell bidding together.
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March 2026
Smaller bidders include Santos affiliate Oil Search and smaller players Beacon, Epoch, SE Partners, and Peritas, which bid on tracts along the Colville River.
“Investor confidence in Alaska’s energy future is not only strong—it’s growing,” says Steve Wackowski, president and CEO of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. “That confidence is critical to advancing responsible development of Alaska’s vast resources, supporting jobs, sustaining the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, and strengthening US national security in an increasingly uncertain world.”
The federal government splits half of the bid receipts with the State of Alaska, putting nearly $82 million into the state treasury. A portion of those proceeds benefit North Slope communities through the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Impact Mitigation program.
Photo Credit: US Bureau of Land Management
“Today’s lease sale underscores the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska’s vital role in strengthening America’s energy security while fuelling economic growth across Alaska,” says US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “The reserve was created to support our nation’s energy needs, and this successful sale demonstrates what’s possible when we align responsible development with that original purpose.”
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, BLM must hold at least five lease sales in NPRA by 2035, each offering no fewer than 4 million acres. BLM has rescinded a 2024 rule that restricted leasing and development in NPRA, withdrew three policy documents to expand limitations in special areas, and approved an updated integrated activity plan that reopens nearly 82 percent of the reserve to oil and gas leasing.
“This historic lease sale reinforces what we know: when federal leadership aligns with Alaska’s strengths and provides access and certainty, investment follows,” says Kati Capozzi, president and CEO of the Alaska Chamber. “It’s now incumbent on policymakers to maintain that stability to secure the high-paying jobs and increased revenue these investments can deliver.”
By contrast, the Cook Inlet lease sale, the first in a series mandated under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, received no bids. Even a sale in state waters of Cook Inlet attracted only one bid. Of the 2.9 million acres offered, just one 20-acre tract was leased to Three Mountain Oil for $600.
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says it will continue to hold leasing opportunities in Cook Inlet so that the industry has a regular, predictable schedule. Five more sales in Cook Inlet are mandated through 2032.
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