Trump Admin Moves To Reinstate Major Alaskan Oil Leases Canceled Under Biden

Interior Secretary Burgum will reinstate leases spanning 365,775 acres in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Trump administration is reinstating seven large oil leases that President Donald Trump awarded to Alaska during his first stint in the White House before the Biden administration canceled them. The decision comes shortly after a federal district court judge determined the cancellations were illegal.

In an opinion published late Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled that the cancellations of the leases—which span 365,775 acres across the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and were awarded in January 2021, in the final days of the first Trump administration—were illegal because such leases can only be canceled via court order. Then-interior secretary Deb Haaland abruptly canceled the leases in September 2023 over climate concerns.

Gleason ultimately remanded the issue back to the Department of the Interior for further proceedings, teeing up the agency’s reinstatement of the leases.

“The court’s decision finds that the cancellation of [Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority’s] ANWR leases was unlawful,” an Interior Department spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon. “The Department is moving quickly to reinstate the wrongfully terminated leases, consistent with President Trump’s order to unleash Alaska’s energy resources and further ensure American Energy Dominance.”

The Interior Department’s reinstatement of Alaska’s leases is the latest salvo in its efforts to boost energy production and reduce consumer prices. And they are yet another departure from policies pursued by the Biden administration, which sought to block drilling and prevent further fossil fuel leasing as part of its aggressive climate agenda.

It also comes as the Trump administration continues to eye Alaska as a key player in its “drill, baby, drill” agenda. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to ensure the government takes full advantage of the state’s “abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources” and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reaffirmed last week that he would take action expanding energy production in the state.

“A rogue federal agency under the Biden administration should never have had the power to cancel legally obtained leases,” Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R.) said in a statement. “Now the leasing program can move forward and could result in more safe, secure energy production right here in Alaska. President Trump was right on ANWR as well.”

“This decision is a positive step forward in the responsible development of ANWR,” added Dana Pruhs, the chairman of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. “It also follows the law passed in 2017, calling for lease sales with the purpose of studying and developing the leaseholds. This is an important step in a lengthy process to bring more domestic energy to market.”

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ordered the Interior Department to create and administer an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area in northern Alaska that contains approximately 7.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The law further ordered that the agency conduct two lease sales under that program, one by Dec. 22, 2021, and another by Dec. 22, 2024.

In early January 2021, weeks before Joe Biden was set to take office, the Interior Department held the first mandated sale, offering hundreds of thousands of acres of fossil fuel leases. The agency awarded nine leases, including the seven given to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, one day before Biden’s inauguration.

Biden then halted all oil and gas leasing on federal lands on his first day in office and, five months later, Haaland ordered Interior officials to conduct additional environmental analyses of the leases awarded to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. Haaland then canceled the leases altogether, stating that climate change is warming the Arctic “more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet.”

Climate activists routinely oppose fossil fuel drilling and resource development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over carbon emissions and potential wildlife impacts. “We will continue to challenge their misguided attempts to industrialize the Arctic Refuge, so that the Coastal Plain can continue to sustain iconic wildlife and cultural traditions for generations to come,” Alaska Wilderness League senior policy director Andy Moderow said in a statement.