Mon Dec 22, 2014 3:17 am
US President Barack Obama placed Bristol Bay off-limits for future oil and gas leasing, extending a temporary withdrawal he imposed in 2010 that was due to expire in 2017. The Dec. 16 announcement effectively excludes the entire North Aleutian Basin from consideration in the new 5-year Outer Continental Shelf program the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has begun to prepare.