The U.S. Department of the Interior is beginning a new effort to streamline permitting for oil and gas infrastructure development in the roughly 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
The initiative follows a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association requesting that the Bureau of Land Management create a new development permit program for projects within the petroleum reserve.
According to the Interior Department, the proposal would simplify permitting for qualifying production sites and related infrastructure that meet pre-established criteria. The Bureau of Land Management said it has already evaluated similar types of development through projects including Greater Mooses Tooth One and Two, Willow, Alpine and other North Slope operations.
As part of the process, the Bureau of Land Management is launching a 45-day public scoping period to gather input for an environmental impact statement related to production site development in the reserve. Public comments may be submitted through the agency’s National NEPA Register project webpage.
The environmental review is expected to support a future rulemaking process in which the Bureau of Land Management will consider the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s petition while allowing for additional revisions and public feedback.
The Interior Department said the effort aligns with broader administration policies aimed at expanding domestic energy production, including Executive Order 14153, Secretary’s Order 3422 and the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.
Federal officials also highlighted recent regulatory actions intended to increase development opportunities in the reserve. Those actions include rescinding a 2024 rule that limited leasing and development activity and reopening nearly 82 percent of the reserve to oil and gas leasing through an updated Integrated Activity Plan.
Currently, about 1.6 million acres within the reserve are under lease, with additional leases expected to be finalized following the March 2026 lease sale. According to the Interior Department, the sale generated nearly $163.7 million in total receipts, with 187 tracts receiving bids — setting records for total revenue and number of tracts bid, while marking the second-largest acreage sale in the reserve’s history.