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Lower Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Watchdog Update

Belugas, Cook Inlet, Lease Sales, Oil & Gas

The Trump administration is just as intent as ever to industrialize the federal waters of Lower Cook Inlet. As they continue moving forward with their plans to double oil and gas leasing opportunities, the administration is also now allocating $3 million toward government-led seismic testing —a costly handout to an industry that has historically paid for its own exploration. The proposed testing would unleash underwater blasts across the Inlet, threatening marine life in the same waters as our commercial, charter and personal use fisheries.
The Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), formerly BOEM, is months behind their anticipated schedule – but we still expect the revised version of their new 5-year offshore oil and gas leasing plan to be released this year. When that happens, yearly sales in Cook Inlet will most likely remain in the plan. 

Though Alaska’s Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan pushed back on the statewide draft lease plan’s inclusion of new leasing in Arctic waters, they have both specifically named Cook Inlet as a priority lease area. We need to remind them that lower Cook Inlet is more valuable intact and flourishing than disrupted and threatened by new drilling.  

Doubling down on sale opportunities isn’t the only way MMA is rolling out the red carpet for industry. The administration just allocated $3 million toward government-led seismic testing in Cook Inlet, despite a lack of industry interest and its proven environmental consequences. Historically, industry is responsible for this level of exploration. The funding request, hidden in the MMA’s 2027 Budget Justifications report (pg 31), is another public handout to an already highly subsidized industry and, namely, the multi-billion-dollar corporation Hilcorp, which monopolizes offshore drilling in Cook Inlet. 

The budget proposal indicates that MMA would enter into a state-private cost-share model with the State of Alaska and one or more undisclosed private companies to fund and conduct the seismic surveys. 

At a time when Alaska’s budget deficit is forcing schools to close, the state cannot afford to take on yet another industry expense. Nor can Cook Inlet’s ecosystem. The underwater blasts of seismic testing ripple thousands of kilometers through the ocean and introduce noise levels louder than standing next to a jet plane taking off. This is an environmentally destructive research practice that only paves the way for further industrialization of our waters. Current mitigation measures are insufficient, and though understudied, the existing research is clear – our marine life, from zooplankton to fish to belugas, bears the consequences. 

This is corporate welfare that puts local coastal communities and marine life at risk. Many questions remain about this proposal, and though little information has been released, Inletkeeper is committed to finding answers. We will share more about when the MMA proposes to conduct this research, which State agencies and private companies are working with them, and when and if there is an opportunity for the public to weigh in.