The U.S. Interior Department announced on Wednesday that no bids were received for the recent oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This sale, which the state has criticized as overly restrictive, did not attract any bids by the deadline on Monday. Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis stated that the lack of interest from oil companies reflects the understanding that some places, like the refuge’s coastal plain, are too precious to risk through drilling activities.
Despite the lack of bids, the state has filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department and federal officials over the sale’s terms, alleging that they are too restrictive. The state is also seeking to invalidate the environmental review supporting the sale. This legal battle follows previous litigation related to the 2021 lease sale held at the end of the Trump administration.
A 2017 law called for two lease sales in the refuge’s coastal plain by late 2024, but major oil companies opted out of the first sale. President Biden’s administration ordered a review of the leasing program, leading to the cancellation of seven leases. The Bureau of Land Management offered 400,000 acres for lease in the second sale, meeting the minimum acreage required by the law while avoiding sensitive wildlife habitats.
While supporters of drilling in the refuge, including some state political leaders, see economic benefits and increased oil production potential, environmentalists and indigenous community leaders are opposed. The Gwich’in communities consider the coastal plain sacred, while the Iñupiaq community of Kaktovik supports responsible oil development for economic reasons.
With uncertainties surrounding the quantity and quality of oil in the area, environmentalists view the lack of interest from oil companies as a positive sign. They argue that drilling in such a remote and ecologically important landscape is too risky and should be avoided. Legal advocacy groups like Earthjustice stand ready to defend the refuge against further attempts to sell it for oil exploration.
“We have been doing this for decades.”
