Two companies successfully bid on nearly 21,000 acres of oil and gas tracts in Cook Inlet this week.
HEX Group and Strong Energy Resources both purchased leases in the state’s spring sale, for a combined total of $450,000. This is the first time a company other than Hilcorp Alaska has won leases in a state sale since 2015.
Anchorage-based HEX Group bought leases under two entities — HEX LLC and Furie Operating Alaska. HEX acquired Furie after it went bankrupt in 2019.
HEX Group bought almost 20,000 acres in leases, most of which are across the inlet from Tyonek, according to a state report. It also bought one lease in the North Fork field, down by Anchor Point.
HEX owns almost 10,000 acres in leases in Cook Inlet and operates the Kitchen Lights Unit there.
Strong Energy Resources, a company based in Texas, bought just under 1,500 acres in the sale, near Anchor Point. The company also owns acreage on the North Slope.
The sale was for state-owned leases only. This year’s federal oil and gas sale in Cook Inlet was paused in February when the Biden administration hit the brakes on federal leasing programs nationwide.
About 3.3 million acres were up for bid in this sale.
