BLM Reopens National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for Drilling

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will open more public land for oil and gas drilling in Alaska, the agency announced on Dec. 22. BLM updated an activity plan for the National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska’s North Slope that reopens an area nearly the size of South Carolina to oil and gas leasing, overturning Biden-era restrictions. The decision restores the National Petroleum Reserve’s purpose as a strategic domestic energy supply, according to BLM. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the decision to open the land for development was a “major step forward for our state and for America’s energy future.”...