Tegan Hanlon, Alaska's Energy Desk - Anchorage

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A tundra landscape half covered in ice

Alaska’s state development corporation weighs bidding in ANWR lease sale

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is asking its board to allow it to spend up to $20 million on the leases.
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In last-minute move, Trump administration shrinks ANWR oil lease sale by almost a third

The Bureau of Land Management announced the decision to shrink the available acres by about 30% on Friday evening, just three days before it began accepting sealed bids for drilling rights.
An aerial view of an oil production facilities shows a series of buildings near the Cook Inlet waters

Nearly 8,000 gallons of ‘slop oil’ spilled at onshore Hilcorp facility near Cook Inlet

Slop oil is about 80 percent crude and 20 percent water. According to the state, the oil mix pooled in and on top of the soil, but did not go into Cook Inlet waters.
Two silhouetted figures in the distance around some lakes with mountains in the background

Gwich’in, conservation groups ask court to block ANWR oil leasing

The Trump administration has scheduled the first-ever lease sale in the coastal plain for Jan. 6, and it's moving toward allowing seismic work in the area this winter. But the groups behind the recent court filings are asking a judge to prevent the administration from doing both until the ongoing lawsuits are resolved.
A white man speaks as he sits at a table with an american flag in the background

Dunleavy wants state to cut ties with banks that won’t fund Arctic oil projects

Gov. Dunleavy says his administration will introduce a bill during the upcoming legislative session that would require state departments to sever their relationships with financial institutions that won’t finance oil and gas development in the Arctic.
A tundra landscape half covered in ice

Trump administration to auction oil drilling rights in all federal lands of ANWR coastal plain

The Bureau of Land Management says, however, it could withdraw some tracts from leasing after its 30-day comment period ends Dec. 17.
Two silhouetted figures in the distance around some lakes with mountains in the background

Trump administration announces ANWR lease sale for Jan. 6

The plan sets up a final showdown with opponents before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Caribou graze on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, with snowcapped peaks of the Brooks Range as a backdrop. (USFWS)

The Trump administration is moving to sell leases in ANWR, but will anyone show up for a sale?

Oil and gas companies aren’t talking publicly about whether they’d bid. But one industry analyst says she’d expect interest in a lease sale to be “lukewarm.”

Trump administration rushes to sell oil rights in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The official "call for nominations" launches a 30-day comment period. It will also allow the Bureau of Land Management to move forward with a lease sale, which it must announce 30 days in advance.
An aerial view of one of the exploration pads and wells that ConocoPhillips drilled during the 2018 exploration season at its Willow prospect.

Trump administration approves Conoco’s Willow project in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed the record of decision for the Willow project on Monday, earning praise from Alaska's Republican Congressional delegation and governor, and condemnation from environmental groups.

Conflicting claims, big money at heart of debate on Alaska’s oil taxes

Ballot Measure 1 — or the “Fair Share Act” — is an initiative that supporters say would fix Alaska’s oil tax law while opponents argue it would jeopardize Alaska’s economy.
A portrait of former SAE Exploration Chairman and CEO Jeff Hastings in Juneau from 2017.

Former executive of SAExploration arrested on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud

The Houston-based company provides seismic data to oil-and-gas companies.
On a cloudy, twilight winter day, an oil platform an be seen rising in the water.

Feds to study impacts of potential oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet

It’d be the first federal lease sale in the Cook Inlet since 2017.
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‘We will give you one heck of a fight’: Lawsuits filed against oil drilling plan for Alaska’s Arctic Refuge

The Gwich'in Steering Committee and more than a dozen environmental groups are suing the Trump administration over its controversial plan to open up a northern part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development.

Alaska judge dismisses lawsuit against backers of oil tax initiative

Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews says the law that prohibits paying signature gatherers no more than than $1 per name is an “unconstitutional restriction on free speech.”

State gives Italian oil giant six more months to make $2.7M rent payment on Alaska leases

It’s the third such extension granted by DNR in the past three months. The department cited the coronavirus pandemic’s dire impacts as the reason to give companies more time to pay.

Hilcorp quietly takes over BP’s stakes in Prudhoe Bay and other Alaska oil fields

Hilcorp Alaska announced in a written statement Wednesday morning that it has taken over BP’s interests in the Prudhoe Bay, Milne Point and Point Thompson fields.
A swampy tundra area as seen from above

Trump administration wants to open millions of more acres to oil development on Alaska’s North Slope

The administration is proposing to open 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to oil and gas leasing, a move staunchly opposed by environmental groups.

DNR to complete its review of BP sale this week

DNR Commissioner Corri Feige says that will allow the companies to close a piece of their deal by June 30th.

Alaska superior court judge orders state to correct its summary of the oil-tax initiative

Superior Court Judge William Morse sided with proponents of the ballot initiative, saying Meyer did not provide an impartial summary.