The Interior Department signed a new Record of Decision to guide management of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to a management consistent with a plan in 2013 under the Obama Administration.
The Bureau of Land Management announced in January its review of the 2020 Integrated Activity Plan under the Trump Administration for the area. Under this decision to revert back to a prior plan, approximately 11.8 million acres (52%) of the NPR-A’s subsurface estate are available for oil and gas leasing. The remaining approximately 11 million acres (48%) of the NPR-A, including the majority of lands within Special Areas and much of the coastal area of the NPR-A along the Beaufort Sea, are closed to oil and gas leasing under this plan, citing the need to protect and conserve important surface resources and uses in these areas.
The decision makes lands available for application for oil and gas infrastructure, including pipelines and other infrastructure necessary for owners and offshore leases in the state or federal waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to bring oil and gas across the NPR-A to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
The management being reverted to the 2013 Integrated Activity Plan reduces the amount of land being made available for oil and gas leasing from 18.6 million acres, or 82%.
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