While these operations went on east of Umiat, BP also conducted seismic surveys closer to the coast around the Colville River delta and eastward to Prudhoe Bay. In September 1964, BP petitioned the state of Alaska to put its newly selected state lands in these areas up for lease. By the end of the year, the state held its first sale of North Slope leases. It decided, however, to offer only the area around the Colville River and, for the moment, exclude those lands around Prudhoe Bay. BP and Sinclair jointly leased 318,000 acres at the sale for an average of less than six dollars an acre. There
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