News Brief

June 4, 2025

Interior Department proposes rolling back drilling protections on Alaska public land

The Trump Administration is planning to revoke a 2024 rule that restricted oil and gas drilling on 13 million acres of Alaska public land.

The Biden Administration had enacted the protections on a portion of the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in the Alaskan Arctic, with an outright ban on oil and gas leasing on 10.6 million acres. Under Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Bureau of Land Management would revert to regulations in place prior to Biden’s rule finalized on May 7, 2024.

Burgum announced the move at a press event in Utqiagvik, Alaska, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin. Also joining the Cabinet members on the trip were government and industry officials from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, who hope to benefit from Trump’s push for more natural gas exports from Alaska.

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