Alaska Oil and Gas Lease Sales

 

National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A)

BLM manages more than 22 million acres of surface estate plus the subsurface mineral rights to an additional ~650,000 acres in the ~23 million-acre NPR-A.

The BLM generally conducts annual oil and gas lease sales in the NPR-A. In May 1999, the BLM held its first NPR-A lease sale since 1984, offering nearly 3.9 million acres within the Northeast Planning Area. Since 1999, the BLM has held lease sales in both the Northwest (NW) and Northeast (NE) Planning Areas. A February 2013 Record of Decision (ROD) opened tracts for leasing in the southern NPR-A, and tracts in the far west were created after a 2014 deferral expired.  

On April 25, 2022, the Department of the Interior signed a new Record of Decision to guide management of the NPR-A. The ROD adopted Alternative A, the No Action Alternative, as analyzed in the 2020 NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan Final Environmental Impact Statement. The plan adopted by this Decision provides for management consistent with the Integrated Activity Plan approved in the 2013 NPR-A ROD. Under this plan, approximately 11.8 million acres of the NPR-A’s subsurface estate are available for oil and gas leasing. The remaining approximately 11 million acres of the NPR-A are closed to oil and gas leasing under this plan in order to protect and conserve important surface resources and uses in these areas.

NPR-A royalties and other revenue

Passed in 1980, Public Law 96-514 authorized “an expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas” in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). . The law issued guidance on how and when oil and gas lease sales would happen, but it also gave stipulations about how the related royalties and other revenues would be distributed. 

The State of Alaska semiannually gets half of all receipts from lease sales, rentals, bonuses and royalties from oil and gas operations in the NPR-A, but not as unrestricted funds. According to PL 96-514, the state receives the funds for: 

“(a) planning, (b) construction, maintenance, and operation of essential public facilities, and (c) other necessary provisions of public service: Provided further, [emphasis theirs] that in the allocation of such funds, the State shall give priority to use by subdivisions of the State most directly or severely impacted by development of oil and gas leased under this Act.” 

Each affected community applies to the state for funds through the National Petroleum Reserve – in Alaska Impact Mitigation Grant Program, administered by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development’s Division of Community and Regional Affairs. The federal government has no role in how those funds are ultimately distributed among the applicants. 

 

Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The 1,563,500-acre Coastal Plain is highly prospective for oil and gas resources, estimated to contain between 4.25 and 11.8 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. 

The BLM conducted its first lease sale in the Coastal Plain of ANWR Jan. 6, 2021, pursuant to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program August 2020 Record of Decision (ROD) with any future oil and gas development actions requiring a separate detailed environmental analysis.

Secretary of the Interior Order 3401: In June 2021 suspended all activities related to implementing the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program pending completion of a comprehensive analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act.

An Aug. 4, 2021, Federal Register notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement initiated the scoping process to begin the comprehensive analysis of potential environmental impacts, including addressing deficiencies identified in the Secretary’s order.

On September 6, 2023 the remaining leases from the 2021 lease sale were cancelled by the Secretary of the Interior.

On December 8, 2024, the Department of the Interior signed a new Record of Decision, adopting Alternative D2 to guide management of the Coastal Plain of ANWR. This alternative made the minimum 400,000 acres available for the second lease sale. The second Coastal Plain lease sale ended with no bids received by the January 6, 2025, deadline, so the public bid opening scheduled for January 10 was cancelled.

View current and recent oil and gas lease sale notices and results below.

2025 Lease Sale

Coastal Plain Lease Sale Jan. 10, 2025, sealed bid

Lease Sale

2021 Lease Sale

Coastal Plain Lease Sale Jan.6, 2021 sealed bid

Lease Sale

Call for Nominations

NPR-A 2019 Lease Sale

NPR-A Lease Sale Dec. 11, 2019 sealed bid

NPR-A 2018 Lease Sale

NPR-A Lease Sale Dec. 12, 2018 sealed bid

NPR-A 2017 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2016 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2015 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2014 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2013 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2012 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2011 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2010 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2008 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2006 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2004 Lease Sale
NPR-A 2002 Lease Sale
NPR-A 1999 Lease Sale

 

Point of Contact

Rob Brumbaugh
Email: BLM_AKSO_AK932_AKLeasesales@blm.gov