US Senator for Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, is again pressing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to retain all three lease sales planned for her state when the bureau settles on its next five-year program for offshore exploration and production.
Murkowski, a Republican and chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is a determined advocate for the development of resources in Alaska’s Arctic territory and waters.
BOEM is a branch of the Department of the Interior and its remit is to manage the development of the country’s offshore resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way.
Murkowski communicated to BOEM director Abigail Ross Hopper her desire that the leases proposed for the Beaufort Sea in 2020, Cook Inlet in 2021, and the Chukchi Sea in 2022 should not be withdrawn.