Judge Rules Biden Admin Unlawfully Canceled Oil, Gas Leases in Alaska Refuge

AIDEA filed the lawsuit against the Biden administration in 2023 after the Department of Interior canceled oil and gas leases it won in January 2021.

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

A federal judge in Alaska ruled on Tuesday that the Department of the Interior (DOI) acted unlawfully when it canceled seven oil and gas leases issued for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) because the agency failed to obtain a court order beforehand.

In a 22-page order, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason stated that DOI needed to obtain a court order to cancel the seven leases that had been awarded to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) before the Biden administration took office in 2021.