Arctic oil and gas auction sees limited interest

The US Trump administration’s auction of drilling rights in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) received limited interest.

With an increasing number of banks saying they will not finance Arctic energy projects, major oil companies were uninterested in the leases. Instead, the state agency, Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, was the main bidder, reportedly accounting for £12mn of the total £14mn worth of bids. The agency put up all but two of the winning bids for 11 tracts, which went to two small energy firms – 88 Energy and Knik Arm Services.