The Biden Administration’s energy policies are in the spotlight again following the U.S. Department of the Interior’s new limits to oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) updated its regulatory framework for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The reserve consists of 23 million acres of public land in Alaska extending from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Coast. BLM cited wildlife protection efforts, climate change and indigenous communities’ continued reliance on its resources as reasons for the new restrictions.
The NPR-A is estimated to hold approximately 17 Bbbl of conventional oil and 50 Tcf of natural gas, according to the Energy Workforce and Technology Council.