By SUZANNE DOWNING
Feb. 3, 2026 – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has formally opened bidding for a major offshore oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet, the first federal lease offering in the region in four years and the first under a new congressional mandate requiring recurring sales.
The Bureau has begun soliciting sealed bids for the Cook Inlet Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas One Big Beautiful Bill Act Lease Sale 1, commonly referred to as BBC1 or “Big Beautiful Cook Inlet 1.” The sale offers roughly 1.05 million acres across 216 offshore blocks in the northern Cook Inlet planning area, stretching from near Kalgin Island south toward Augustine Island.
Sealed bids must be received by March 3 and BOEM will open and publicly announce the bids via livestream at 10 am Alaska Time on March 4.
The lease sale is authorized under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted in 2025, which requires at least six offshore oil and gas lease sales in Cook Inlet through 2032. Under the law, one sale must be held each year from 2026 through 2028 and again from 2030 through 2032. BBC1 is the first in that series.
Lease terms include a 10-year primary term, a minimum bonus bid of $25 per hectare, and a 12.5% royalty rate.
BOEM formally opened the solicitation for bids with the publication of the Final Notice of Sale, which the agency announced on Jan. 30, and subsequently published in the Federal Register on Monday.The Final Notice of Sale triggers active bidding.
Recent Cook Inlet lease offerings, both federal and state, have drawn limited industry interest, due to high costs, regulatory uncertainty, and competing opportunities.
The Cook Inlet sale aligns with the Trump Administration’s broader push to expand domestic energy production on federal lands and waters.
