The Trump administration is moving to roll back Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, potentially opening more of the state’s vast wilderness to energy exploration.
The 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) is the largest undisturbed public land in the U.S. Originally set aside in 1923 as a strategic oil supply for the Navy, the reserve was opened to commercial development in the 1970s and is now overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.
In 2023, President Joe Biden’s administration banned oil and gas leasing on 10.6 million acres of the reserve and restricted development on an additional 2 million acres. The decision was praised by environmental groups and Indigenous communities who said the limits would protect wildlife habitats and traditional lifestyles.
Critics, however, argue the restrictions hurt job creation and weaken U.S. energy independence. “Congress was clear: the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska was set aside to support America’s energy security through responsible development,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said. “The 2024 rule ignored that mandate, prioritizing obstruction over production.”
This policy shift is part of former President Donald Trump’s broader energy agenda, which focuses on boosting domestic oil and gas production by cutting regulations. Trump officials are now working to expand activity in the reserve, including the major Willow project, being developed by ConocoPhillips. The 600-million-barrel field is expected to begin producing oil in 2029.
The North Slope of Alaska, where the reserve is located, currently accounts for just over 3% of U.S. oil output, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). A 2020 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment estimated the Central North Slope holds about 3.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The nearby Prudhoe Bay oil field, the largest in North America, is also central to the region’s energy production. More than 18 billion barrels of oil have been transported from the North Slope through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline since its opening. BP Exploration operates the Prudhoe Bay field, with ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil holding major stakes.
On June 2, Trump officials and energy leaders from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines visited Prudhoe Bay. According to the Associated Press, Trump aims to double the flow of oil through the pipeline and push forward a new natural gas project that would supply Alaskans and export liquefied natural gas (LNG) abroad.
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