據彭博社5月12日報道，美國內政部長伯恩哈特(David Bernhardt)表示，低迷的原油價格和燃料需求不會影響石油公司對北極鉆探權的競購。相反，這些公司更有可能基于長期預期和其他考慮給出報價，因為他所在的機構正在權衡今年出售北極國家野生動物保護區156萬英畝沿海平原的租約。

然而，伯恩哈特承認，目前的價格和需求狀況“可能會影響到競購者的范圍”。

燃料需求下降和原油價格暴跌促使石油生產商關閉鉆井平臺，裁員，并削減美國各地的新支出。分析師預計，接下來將會有一波破產潮。油價暴跌可能會迫使阿拉斯加的一些潛在競標者放棄北極地區的出售計劃。此前，Oil Search 公司和Hilcorp 能源已經決定削減部分業務，并就BP阿拉斯加業務的付款計劃重新進行談判。

即使沒有最近的危機，也很少有石油公司有資源在阿拉斯加東北部偏遠的北極國家野生動物保護區開展業務，一些大型石油公司可能會完全放棄該地區。

2017年，作為支付減稅計劃的一部分，美國國會結束了對該保護區沿海平原石油開發長達數十年的禁令。盡管美國內政部去年完成了一項北極保護區鉆探所需的環境研究，但它仍在制定一份正式啟動拍賣的“決策記錄”，以及指導在該地區出售的所有租約開發的最終規定。

洪偉立 摘譯自 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.