Trump Administration creating new offshore oil and gas planning area in Alaska: ‘High Arctic’

The Trump administration is taking more steps to reverse onerous Biden-era public lands rules that limited oil and gas development across millions of federally managed acres in the West and Alaska.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is updating its planning framework with a new offshore planning area, called the High Arctic, off the north coast of Alaska, bringing the total number of Outer Continental Shelf planning areas to 27.

On Friday, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced the launch of a public engagement process to develop the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the beginning of a multi-year effort to shape the future of offshore energy development in the United States.

Boundaries for several existing planning areas are being revised to align with BOEM’s updated jurisdiction. Details on these updates will be outlined in an upcoming Federal Register notice and will be available on BOEM’s website.

The OCS is a major contributor to US energy production. As of April 1, BOEM manages 2,227 active oil and gas leases, covering approximately 12.1 million acres.

Of these, 469 leases are currently producing oil and gas. In fiscal year 2024, OCS leases generated approximately $7 billion in revenue for the federal government and state partners, supporting hundreds of thousands of American jobs and accounting for 14% of US oil production and 2% of natural gas output.

BOEM’s most recent resource assessment estimates that the Outer Continental Shelf holds a mean of 68.79 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 229.03 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas.

Once finalized, the 11th National OCS Program will replace the current 2024–2029 leasing program, which includes three planned lease sales in the Gulf of America. BOEM is continuing to prepare for those sales while beginning work on the new program.

The action follows President Donald Trump’s issuance of Executive Order 14154, titled “Unleashing American Energy,” which outlines a federal policy to maximize energy production from domestic resources, including federal lands and waters.

In addition to the new “High Arctic” area being established, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House Office of Management and Budget posted notices this week indicating that two rules finalized last year by the Bureau of Land Management, are under formal review and are targeted for potential “rescission.”

One of the rules under scrutiny was finalized in June 2024 and applied to the roughly 245 million acres of land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. It mandated that conservation and landscape health as “co-equal” to other uses, such as drilling and mining, shifting federal land management priorities. Trump intends to reverse that public lands rule.

The second Biden rule pertains to Alaska. It limited oil and gas development within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the 23-million-acre region on Alaska’s North Slope that was originally set aside for oil and gas for national security.

The Interior Department said the move to rescind both rules is part of a broader push to expand domestic energy production in alignment with Trump’s Executive Order 14153, titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” signed on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20,  which aims to boost the state’s natural resource industry by reversing Biden-era lockdowns and restrictions that limited oil and gas extraction, among other activities. His order included:

Reinstating Oil and Gas Leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Rescinding Biden Administration cancellation of leases in ANWR’s 1002 Area Coastal Plain and directing the Secretary of the Interior to initiate additional leasing and issue permits for exploration and development.

Removing Restrictions in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A): Reversing Biden limits on drilling in the NPR-A and reinstating a Trump 1-era management plan that opened approximately 80% of the 23-million-acre reserve to leasing.

Prioritizing the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project: Supporting expediting permitting for the Alaska LNG Project, including pipeline and export infrastructure, to enhance energy production and export capabilities.

Revoking Offshore Drilling Bans: Overturning Biden’s moratorium on new offshore oil and gas drilling in areas like the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, aiming to open these regions for exploration.

Streamlining Permitting: Directing federal agencies to rescind or revise regulations inconsistent with resource development, expediting project approvals.