Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on Sunday evening announced that the Department of the Interior is moving to rescind a 2024 rule that placed significant new restrictions on oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The announcement was made in Utqiagvik, where Burgum said the move would restore the original intent of Congress to promote responsible energy production in the reserve.
Burgum, along with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, was in America’s most northern community to meet with residents, officials, and to roll out more of Trump’s American Energy Dominance plan.
“Congress was clear: the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska was set aside to support America’s energy security through responsible development!” Burgum said.
The decision follows a thorough legal and policy review conducted by the Bureau of Land Management and senior officials. That review concluded the 2024 rule under President Joe Biden, formally titled Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, exceeded the agency’s statutory authority under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976, conflicted with its purpose, and created unwarranted barriers to energy development.
“The 2024 rule ignored that mandate, prioritizing obstruction over production and undermining our ability to harness domestic resources at a time when American energy independence has never been more critical. We’re restoring the balance and putting our energy future back on track,” Burgum said.
The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska covers approximately 23 million acres on Alaska’s North Slope. It was established by Congress as a strategic energy reserve in the wake of the 1970s oil crisis. The 1976 Act requires the BLM to carry out an “expeditious program of competitive leasing” while also protecting surface resources.
During a media event in Anchorage earlier in the day, Burgum talked about how vast the NPR-A is, comparing it to the size of a state like Indiana.
The 2024 rule had expanded procedural requirements and placed new limits on development across roughly 13 million acres of the reserve, designating them as “Special Areas.” Under that rule, companies would have needed to prove their operations would cause minimal or no adverse effects to surface resources, criteria that the Department of Interior says have no clear legal basis in the governing statute.
Rescinding the rule aligns with recent Executive Orders issued by President Trump in January 2025: E.O. 14153, Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential, and E.O. 14156, Declaring a National Emergency. Both orders direct federal agencies to reverse restrictive policies and revitalize domestic energy production, particularly in resource-rich regions like Alaska.
When finalized, the rescission would revert the NPR-A’s management framework to the pre-May 7, 2024 regulations. Those rules have historically guided leasing decisions through an “Integrated Activity Plan” process that includes provisions to protect wildlife habitat, subsistence use, and surface values.
The proposed rescission will be published in the Federal Register and open to public comment for 60 days.
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