Hilcorp Alaska is applying for an underground oil and gas lease for five parcels of Kenai Peninsula Borough land in Anchor Point.
Marcus Mueller is the borough’s land management officer. He said Hilcorp is proposing to lease roughly 20 acres in the area.
“Those parcels include the Anchor Point Solid Waste site, which is about 15 acres so that's the biggest area in the mix,” he said. “Also the Anchor Point Fire Department which is a small parcel of land, and there's a couple of miscellaneous other parcels in that area--all about a mile or two from Anchor Point proper.”
One parcel is near the Chapman School.
Mueller said that while the lease would allow for both oil and gas extraction, he indicated that the company would most likely be extracting gas. Hillcorp could not be reached in time for a comment.
Mueller said there would be no infrastructure above ground at any of the lease sites.
“So these would be contributing to wells that would be [on] an offsite location,” he said.
The borough would receive nearly 13 percent of royalties from Hilcorp with the intention of giving almost 10 percent to the Anchor Point Fire and Emergency Medical Service Area.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly will discuss the lease proposal before the borough planning commission takes it up on Nov. 13. Both have opportunities for public comment.
“Certainly the planning commission can look at a broad array of potential concerns, but at the center of it tends to be the land-use element and the environmental quality," he said. "With there not being a use on the land or near the surface, that will probably largely mitigate their areas of concerns.”
The oil and gas lease will be introduced during Tuesday’s assembly meeting.
