‘Industry has shown for years that energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska can be done responsibly’ Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) has kicked off a new effort to streamline the permitting process for oil and gas infrastructure in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, it said in a May 15 statement.
The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska spans about 23 million acres, an area Congress designated for oil and gas exploration in response to the 1970s energy crisis. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the reserve under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, which mandates an “expeditious program of competitive leasing,” according to DOI. Roughly 1.6 million acres of the reserve are currently leased.
“The effort comes in response to a petition for rulemaking from the Alaska Oil and Gas Association that requested the Bureau of Land Management amend its regulations to create a new development permit program in the petroleum reserve,” the DOI said in its recent statement. “The incoming petition from the Alaska Oil and Gas Association proposes to streamline permitting for construction and operation of qualifying production sites and associated infrastructure that meet predefined criteria.”
The department said that the BLM, as a first step, is initiating public scoping to allow the public to provide input on the proposal. In this case, the public scoping is aimed at gathering feedback regarding the environmental concerns related to oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve. The public has 45 days to comment on the issue.
The comments will support rulemaking that the BLM is expected to undertake, which “carefully considers” the petition, DOI said.
“Industry has shown for years that energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska can be done responsibly,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said. “The Trump administration is building on that record by giving companies the certainty they need to invest, create good-paying jobs, strengthen Alaska’s economy and keep America Energy Dominant.”
In March, the DOI conducted the first oil sale lease in the reserve since 2019. The event saw 10 companies bidding on multiple tracts spanning 1.3 million acres, out of the 5.5 million acres the Trump administration has opened for energy exploration. The lease netted $163.7 million.
