The move will create more jobs and help reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil, an official said.
The Department of Interior (DOI) released a draft analysis that proposes reopening up to 82 percent of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) to oil and gas leasing and development, the agency said in a June 17 statement.
NPR-A was set aside as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy by President Warren Harding in 1923. In 1976, the reserve was transferred to the DOI’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
In 2022, the Biden administration announced the closure of almost half of the NPR-A reserve to oil and gas drilling, overturning a policy from the first Trump administration that sought to boost oil development in the region.
The latest proposal reverses the Biden-era restrictions, “consistent with the Trump administration’s commitment to Energy Dominance and regulatory reform,” the DOI said.
The proposal supports a presidential action, “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.
The action highlighted that Alaska has an “abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources” that could deliver energy price relief for Americans, ease trade imbalances, and create high-quality jobs.
According to the DOI, Congress designated NPR-A for oil and gas exploration in response to the 1970s energy crisis. The BLM manages the reserve under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, which mandates an “expeditious program of competitive leasing,” the agency said.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Adam Suess said the proposed plan is about “creating more jobs for Americans, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and tapping into the immense energy resources the National Petroleum Reserve was created to deliver.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re cutting red tape and restoring commonsense policies that ensure responsible development and good stewardship of our public lands,” he said.
