Trump administration advances oil industry plan to streamline Alaska infrastructure permitting

The oil and gas industry offered a plan to streamline permitting of oil and gas infrastructure in Alaska, and the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is advancing the plan to speed development in the nearly 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A).

BLM said May 15 it would amend regulations “to create a new development program” for NPR-A that echoes a proposed rule developed by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA), which the group filed with the agency May 12.

The plan would apply to gravel pads and roads, pipeline installation, support-infrastructure buildout, materials transport, as well as construction of bridges, culverts, ice roads and pads, according to the AOGA petition.

Under the plan, an operator would apply for a permit with a specified number of desired wells along with the size and locations of gravel pads and other construction projects. If BLM deems the application meets the definition of a production site as described in the rule, the agency would have 14 days to review the application and 60 days to approve the permit.

The plan only applies to sites meeting “common specifications” of sites already “exhaustively analyzed” for environmental impacts, the petition states. BLM noted Greater Mooses Tooth 1 and 2, Willow, Alpine, among projects analyzed for the types of development covered in AOGA’s petition.

“Industry has shown for years that energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska can be done responsibly,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. “The Trump administration is building on that record by giving companies the certainty they need to invest.”

Drilling opponents pushed back. “It would be beyond reckless and irresponsible for BLM to turn over the keys to the Western Arctic and virtually walk away,” said Matt Jackson, Alaska senior manager for The Wilderness Society.  

Jackson said the proposed changes would force BLM to “rubber-stamp virtually any drilling project proposed by leaseholders…and prohibit BLM from rescinding permits unless they were ‘fraudulently obtained’.”

AOGA president and chief executive officer Steve Wackowski countered that the industry needs certainty to invest in Alaska, where development costs far exceed those in the contiguous US due to harsh conditions, isolation, and lack of infrastructure.

“The renewed investment and activity occurring across Alaska’s North Slope today is possible because Alaska has maintained a stable and competitive investment climate for the past 13 years under the current tax system,” Wackowski said. 

Expanded Alaska development

A recent lease sale in NPR-A signaled a resurgence in oil and gas exploration interest in the region. The sale set an industry-participation record, with 11 companies, including Repsol E&P/Shell Frontier LLC, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., Exxon Mobil Alaska, North Slope Exploration LLC, and Epoch Oil & Gas LLC, posting 430 bids on 187 tracts. The sale generated a record $164.7 million. The 2019 sale generated $11.3 million.

Earlier this month, Santos and Repsol began producing commercial oil barrels from the Pikka project on Alaska’s North Slope. Initial output is set to increase steadily, reaching a plateau of 80,000 b/d by third-quarter 2026.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in April increased estimates for natural gas reserves in Alaska to 103 tcf by end-2024 from 97 tcf in 2023, and crude oil reserves to 3.1 billion bbl from 3 billion bbl. Project plans including new wells at Prudhoe Bay and infrastructure to transport North Slope production, plus Trump administration policies to open additional areas to development, could further contribute to proved reserves, EIA said.

BLM launched a public scoping period for an environmental impact study that would precede the rule. Comments are due by July 6.