Burgum Orders Nearly 20 Million Acres in Alaska Opened for Oil, Gas Development

Interior chief lifts National Petroleum Reserve and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge restrictions as debt-busters. Some doubt the change will help as intended.

The Kaktovik Lagoon and the Brooks Range mountains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Kaktovik, Alaska, on Oct. 15, 2024. Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has directed the Bureau of Land Management to “pursue steps to expand opportunities for exploration and development” of oil, gas, and mineral resources across nearly 20 million previously off-limits acres within Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR) and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

The move was not unexpected after President Donald Trump issued a Jan. 20 ‘Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’ executive actions package mandating federal agencies “expedite permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects,” prioritize “development of Alaska’s liquified natural gas (LNG) potential,” and expand fossil fuel development in the 23-million-acre NPR and 19.6-million acre ANWR.