Administration Plans Opening of Federal Land in Alaska for Oil Exploration

Action: On June 17, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced a proposal to open certain public lands in Alaska for oil and gas development. Specifically, the plan would impact 82% of the oil-rich 23 million acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The Administration promotes the plan as an essential step in reducing US dependence on foreign oil and in developing related infrastructure for further oil and gas production.

Trusted Insights for What's Ahead^®

• This plan follows the President’s Executive Order “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s order in early February targeting existing regulations protecting the reserve. It also draws from a similar initiative in the President’s first term in 2020 that ultimately did not go into effect after it was reversed in 2022.
• BLM protects and regulates the area under its 2013 Integrated Activity Plan. The US Geological Survey estimates that large formations in the NPR-A hold 8.7 billion barrels of oil and 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
• Oil and gas leasing for specific areas within the NPR-A is currently permitted. Several major oil companies currently hold leases and continue to advocate for more leases. The Biden Administration approved the most recent lease in 2023 for ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project.
• From 1999 to 2019, the sales of these leases amounted to over $294 million, with Alaska receiving half of the receipts from lease sales, rentals, bonuses, and royalties from oil and gas operations in the NPR-A for public use.
• First established for the Navy in 1923, the NPR-A covers a vast Arctic tundra in northwest Alaska, also home to wildlife and remote indigenous communities. It is separate from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska, managed largely by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Environmental advocates have generally opposed plans to open public lands in Alaska for leasing and may challenge the rule in court, as with past project approvals.
• The BLM released for public comment until July 1 a corresponding draft environmental assessment (EA) analyzing the impact of the new plan. This EA is among the first to be released since the Supreme Court’s ruling in May limiting the scope of Federal environmental review.