Based on a draft settlement agreement, the federal government has agreed to permanently loosen rules for oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The document would settle lawsuits filed by the state of Alaska and its investment bank over the January 2025 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil lease sale, which received no bids because the Biden administration restricted the available acreage. The lease sale was mandated by a 2017 law. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) and the state of Alaska sued over the Biden-era limits.
The settlement states, in part, that the federal government will not limit oil and gas leasing in ANWR by artificially reducing the amount of surface disturbance permitted. Under the 2017 Act, surface disturbance is limited to 2,000 acres in the 19.3-million-acre ANWR. The settlement makes “a clear admission that the … Lease Sale ‘violated the 2017 Tax Act by preventing meaningful leasing, exploration, and development of oil and gas on the Coastal Plain, as Congress mandated.’” The Alaska Beacon notes that the new settlement agreement increases the odds that ANWR will stay open to drilling even when a new president is elected.
The Biden administration did everything it could to shut down energy development in ANWR despite federal law requiring it. It canceled leases under a 2021 ANWR lease sale and then attempted to resell the affected land during the 2025 sale. AIDEA had bought the leases in the 2021 sale and, along with the state, is still suing over the result of that lease sale. The 1002 Area in ANWR has a mean estimate of 7.8 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil and encompasses the northern reaches of the area.
National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
More focus has been on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), due to interest from oil companies and existing infrastructure. The NPR-A consists of approximately 23.5 million acres, about the size of Indiana. It is located to the west of Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay oil fields, while the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve lies to the east and is about the size of South Carolina. NPR-A holds an estimated 8.8 billion barrels of oil. Under the Trump administration, nearly 82% of the reserve has been reopened for oil and gas leasing.
ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project, approved during the Biden administration, was the first major project to take place in the reserve, and others are planned. The Willow project could produce about 180,000 barrels of oil per day by 2029 and inject more oil into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)—a system that needs more oil throughput to remain operational. To move the oil southward from the Arctic Ocean, Alyeska Pipeline Company operates the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which terminates at the ice-free port of Valdez. The pipeline is only transporting about one-quarter of its capacity, and as throughput declines, costs increase. During 2024, ConocoPhillips’ Nuna project became operational and contributed to higher oil proved reserves in Alaska.
President Trump Encourages Energy Development in Alaska
Under President Trump, federal policy changes aim to increase Alaskan production. On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order, Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential, which expedites the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in Alaska and prioritizes the development of Alaska’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) potential. The order highlights the sale and transportation of Alaska’s LNG to other regions of the United States and allied nations within the Pacific region. The North Slope is rich in natural gas produced alongside oil but cannot be transported to markets because no pipeline exists. On March 18, 2026, the Bureau of Land Management awarded 1.3 million acres in a National Petroleum Reserve lease sale. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 requires the Bureau of Land Management to hold at least four more lease sales in the NPR-A over the next 10 years, offering a minimum of 4 million acres at each sale.
Conclusion
The federal government under President Trump has agreed to permanently loosen rules for oil and gas lease sales in ANWR as part of a lawsuit over the 2025 oil lease sale, which drew no bids because the Biden administration restricted the available acreage. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) and the state of Alaska sued over the Biden-era limits. The draft settlement agreement indicates that the federal government will not artificially limit oil and gas leasing in ANWR to levels below those allowed by law. The settlement agreement increases the odds that ANWR will remain open to drilling, even after a new president is elected. President Trump has encouraged energy development in Alaska and has reopened nearly 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve for oil and gas leasing that the Biden administration had effectively removed from exploration.
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