US cancels remaining oil, gas leases in Arctic refuge, pitches protections for Alaskan reserve

The Biden administration Sept. 6 cancelled the last remaining oil and gas leases within the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and proposed new restrictions on oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

The actions build on an ambitious climate and conservation agenda spearheaded by President Joe Biden, who on his first day in office issued an executive order applying a temporary leasing moratorium to ANWR. That pause on pre-development work in ANWR was later extended by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to afford the Interior Department time to conduct a new environmental impact statement on the lease sale that opened ANWR to oil and gas development.

A draft supplement EIS issued Sept. 6 by the Bureau of Land Management and the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that the Trump-era lease sale "was seriously flawed and based on a number of fundamental legal deficiencies," according to a fact sheet from the White House.

Among the flaws were a failure to adequately analyze a reasonable range of alternatives and properly quantify downstream greenhouse gas emissions, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.

With that, Haaland used her authority to cancel seven oil and gas leases held by Alaska's state-owned development finance corporation, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), encompassing 365,000 acres within ANWR.

Going to court

ANWR is located in far northeast Alaska, east of the large producing oil fields on the North Slope. Geologists feel the region has potential for major oil and gas discoveries, but conservation groups have fought fiercely to keep the refuge closed.

"This latest action by [Interior] shows arbitrary disregard for federal law, based on [Biden's] campaign trail rhetoric," AIDEA said in a statement.

The company said it was left with no choice but "to go to court to protect our rights in the ANWR leases."

Having sought court intervention in the past, AIDEA added: "This time, we will ask the court to allow us to conduct discovery that could include taking the deposition of Biden's messenger, Secretary Haaland and possibly other administration officials involved so the real motives are made public."

The US District Court for the District of Alaska in August dismissed all claims against Interior in a lawsuit seeking an injunction vacating the moratorium and compelling Interior to implement the leasing and development program within ANWR.

Though Alaska has remained steadfast in its desire to drill in ANWR's coastal plain, the oil industry has seemed largely ambivalent to the refuge.

AIDEA is the only entity to still hold tracts in the area. Two small companies that won ANWR leases have since surrendered them and had their bids and initial rental payments refunded.

New areas off-limits to oil, gas

"Canceling all remaining oil and gas leases issued under the previous administration in the Arctic Refuge and protecting more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic will help preserve our Arctic lands and wildlife, while honoring the culture, history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska Natives who have lived on these lands since time immemorial," Biden said in statement.

The Biden administration drew flak from environmentalists in March for allowing ConocoPhillips to proceed with its Willow oil and gas project, an $8 billion plan to boost oil output by an estimated 180,000 b/d.

Biden at the time also announced protections for ecologically sensitive onshore areas in the NPR-A, the large federal enclave west of the producing oil fields on the Alaska North Slope, and promised more to come.

He made good on that promise as Interior Sept. 6 also proposed new regulations to further protect so-called special areas within the NPR-A.

The proposed rule would keep protections for special areas in place as long as they housed sensitive landscapes and would require a review by the BLM at least every five years on whether to expand existing special areas, identify additional resources for protection within those areas or designate new special areas.

The proposal also limits future oil and gas leasing and industrial development near the Willow project, specifically the existing special areas in Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Peard Bay.

Those areas encompass 13 million acres that serve as home to grizzly and polar bears, caribou and migratory birds.

Biden's March announcement resulted in new protections to 16 million acres of federal lands and waters, including permanently withdrawing 2.8 million acres of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea north of the NPR-A as off-limits for future oil and gas leasing.

The proposed rule would bar any new leasing on 10.6 million acres, more than 40% of the NPR-A. And efforts to pursue oil and gas development in the NPR-A would be held to a higher bar, as the proposal requires guidelines consistent with a management plan put in place in 2022. That plan reversed an integrated activity plan from the Trump administration that favored expanding oil and gas leasing and reducing protections for special areas.

The draft supplemental EIS on the ANWR lease sale will open for public comment for 45 days while the proposed rule for NPR-A will have a 60-day comment period after being published in the Federal Register.