北极地区石油开采权益仍受市场青睐

据彭博社5月12日报道，美国内政部长伯恩哈特(David Bernhardt)表示，低迷的原油价格和燃料需求不会影响石油公司对北极钻探权的竞购。相反，这些公司更有可能基于长期预期和其他考虑给出报价，因为他所在的机构正在权衡今年出售北极国家野生动物保护区156万英亩沿海平原的租约。

然而，伯恩哈特承认，目前的价格和需求状况“可能会影响到竞购者的范围”。

燃料需求下降和原油价格暴跌促使石油生产商关闭钻井平台，裁员，并削减美国各地的新支出。分析师预计，接下来将会有一波破产潮。油价暴跌可能会迫使阿拉斯加的一些潜在竞标者放弃北极地区的出售计划。此前，Oil Search 公司和Hilcorp 能源已经决定削减部分业务，并就BP阿拉斯加业务的付款计划重新进行谈判。

即使没有最近的危机，也很少有石油公司有资源在阿拉斯加东北部偏远的北极国家野生动物保护区开展业务，一些大型石油公司可能会完全放弃该地区。

2017年，作为支付减税计划的一部分，美国国会结束了对该保护区沿海平原石油开发长达数十年的禁令。尽管美国内政部去年完成了一项北极保护区钻探所需的环境研究，但它仍在制定一份正式启动拍卖的“决策记录”，以及指导在该地区出售的所有租约开发的最终规定。

洪伟立 摘译自 彭博社

原文如下：

Arctic Oil to Draw Bids Despite Rout, Interior Chief Predicts

Bleak crude prices and fuel demand forecasts won’t blunt oil company bidding for Arctic drilling rights, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Monday.

Instead, companies are more likely to make offers based on longer-term forecasts and other considerations, Bernhardt said, as his agency weighs a sale this year of oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1.56-million-acre coastal plain.

However, Bernhardt allowed, current price and demand conditions “could affect perhaps the universe of bidders.”

Falling fuel demand from the coronavirus and collapsing crude prices have prompted oil producers to idle drilling rigs, shed staff and curtail new spending across the U.S., with analysts predicting a wave of bankruptcies to follow. The price rout may force some potential bidders in Alaska to sit out an Arctic sale, after already spurring Oil Search Ltd. to pare some operations and Hilcorp Energy Co. to renegotiate its payment plan for BP Plc’s Alaska business.

Even without the recent setbacks, relatively few oil companies have the resources to mount operations in the remote Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. And some large oil companies may forgo the area altogether, amid steep environmental opposition.

Congress ended a decades-long ban on oil development in the refuge’s coastal plain in 2017 as part of a plan to pay for tax cuts. Although the Interior Department completed a required environmental study of Arctic refuge drilling last year, it’s still developing a “record of decision” to formally trigger an auction, as well as final stipulations to guide development on any leases sold there.