Unleashing Alaska

Trump exec order frees NPR-A, ANWR of fed regs limiting O&G activity

Kay Cashman

Petroleum News

On President Donald J. Trump's first day in office as 47th president of the U.S. he signed an executive order titled "Unleashing Alaska's extraordinary resource potential." It was the most comprehensive action that he took impacting Alaska.

And it was reinforced by his Jan. 20 declaration of a national energy emergency, which addresses the "urgent need" to unburden the U.S. energy industry from "excessive" and "unnecessary" regulations that have stifled growth and investment. By prioritizing reforms that streamline the permitting process and remove administrative bottlenecks, the administration says it will ensure that America's abundant natural resources can be efficiently harnessed to meet growing domestic and global energy demands.

The Jan. 20 executive order directs the "heads of all executive departments and agencies, including but not limited to the Secretary of the Interior; the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; and the Secretary of the Army acting through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Public Works, shall exercise all lawful authority and discretion available to them and take all necessary steps to ... rescind, revoke, revise, amend, defer, or grant exemptions from any and all regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions that are inconsistent with the policy set forth in section 2 of this order, including but not limited to agency actions promulgated, issued, or adopted between Jan. 20, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2025."

Section 2 policy, integral to Alaska, is the policy of the United States to:

(a) fully avail itself of Alaska's vast lands and resources for the benefit of the Nation and the American citizens who call Alaska home;

(b) efficiently and effectively maximize the development and production of the natural resources located on both federal and state lands within Alaska;

(c) expedite the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in Alaska; and

(d) prioritize the development of Alaska's liquified natural gas potential, including "the sale and transportation of Alaskan LNG to other regions of the United States and allied nations within the Pacific region."

Dunleavy approves

The Jan. 20 executive order includes resource extraction projects that had been stymied by previous administrations, especially by Biden and Obama.

Those changes included reversal of Biden's actions to halt oil and gas exploration in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR.

In his first term as the 45th president of the U.S., Trump cleared the way to allow oil and gas exploration and development in ANWR on acreage that had been set aside by Congress for oil and gas development. His administration's efforts were completely reversed by the Biden administration.

Further, the Jan. 20 order says the Secretary of the Interior shall exercise all lawful authority and discretion available to him and take all necessary steps to do the following:

* withdraw Secretarial Order 3401 dated June 1, 2021 (Comprehensive Analysis and Temporary Halt on All Activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Relating to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program);

* rescind the cancellation of any leases within ANWR, "other than such lease cancellations as the Secretary of the Interior determines are consistent with the policy interests described in section 2 of this order, initiate additional leasing through the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, and issue all permits, right-of-way permits, and easements necessary for the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas from leases within ANWR."

Trump's Jan. 20 order also calls for greater state control of Alaska waterways and directs the Secretary of the Interior to take all necessary steps to "identify and assess, in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense, the authorities and public and private resources necessary to immediately achieve the development and export of energy resources from Alaska, including the long-term viability of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System."

Supports LNG

The order directs the heads of all executive departments and agencies to take all necessary steps to "prioritize the development of Alaska's LNG potential, including the permitting of all necessary pipeline and export infrastructure related to the Alaska LNG Project, giving due consideration to the economic and national security benefits associated with such development."

Frank Richards, president of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., said, "Alaska LNG is broadly supported at federal, state, and local levels because of this project's significant strategic, economic and environmental benefits. Alaska LNG will annually strengthen the U.S. balance of trade by approximately $10 billion, create thousands of jobs, and eliminate up to 2.3 billion tons of carbon emissions over the project's 30-year authorization."

Petroleum reserve

The executive order also rescinded the Bureau of Land Management notice entitled "Special Areas Within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska," (July 17, 2024).

The executive order reinstates Secretarial Order 3352 dated May 17, 2017, which is referred to in "Final Report: Review of the Department of the Interior Actions that Potentially Burden Domestic Energy," (November 1, 2017), and the record of decision signed during the first Trump presidency on Dec. 31, 2020, entitled "National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision," which is referred to in "Notice of Availability of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Final Environmental Impact Statement," (June 26, 2020).