US takes step toward oil and gas auction off Alaska coast next year By Reuters – Investing.com

US takes step toward oil and gas auction off Alaska coast next year By Reuters – Investing.com

(Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday took a procedural step towards holding an auction for oil and gas drilling rights in the Cook Inlet off the coast of Alaska next year.

The move is the latest effort by the U.S. Department of Interior to comply with a court order to resume oil and gas lease sales that President Joe Biden paused shortly after taking office in January.

The Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it would kick off a 45-day public comment period for the proposed sale's draft environmental analysis. The comments will help the agency decide whether or not to hold the lease sale at all, it said.