The Bureau of Land Management  (BLM) on Jan. 10 will hold its second and final sale of leases under the Biden Administration to explore for oil on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska.

Drilling in the Alaskan Arctic proved to be a controversial issue for outgoing President Joe Biden, who allowed ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project on the National Petroleum Reserve while also in 2023 blocking drilling on more than half of the 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Meanwhile, oil companies are producing oil on Arctic lands owned by the state of Alaska and Native corporations. This includes Australian energy company Santos’s Pikka Project to produce oil on more than 97,000 acres.

Federal tax legislation Congress passed in 2017 mandated two lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge within seven years of its enactment. The first, held Jan. 6, 2021, drew no bids from major oil companies, with a state development agency serving as the main bidder, according to the Alaska Beacon. No drilling has occurred because of that lease sale.

The Jan. 10 sale will offer 400,000 acres, the minimum required by the 2017 tax legislation, according to the BLM.