Interior Department to Streamline Permitting in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve

‘Industry has shown for years that energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska can be done responsibly’ Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.

Fish Creek through the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska's North Slope, on July 8, 2004. David W. Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey via AP

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.