The lease auction for oil and gas drilling in the Coastal Plain of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska has not received any bids from energy companies.
The US Interior Department confirmed the absence of bids for the congressionally mandated auction, which was a requirement under the 2017 Tax Act.
Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis said: “The lack of interest from oil companies in development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reflects what we and they have known all along – there are some places too special and sacred to put at risk with oil and gas drilling. This proposal was misguided in 2017, and it is misguided now.
“The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has followed the law and held two lease sales that have exposed the false promises made in the Tax Act. The oil and gas industry is sitting on millions of acres of undeveloped leases elsewhere; we would suggest that is a prudent place to start, rather than engage further in speculative leasing in one of the most spectacular places in the world.”
The outcome of the auction has been interpreted by outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration as an indication that the 19-million-acre refuge, which is home to polar bears and Porcupine caribou, should be preserved from fossil fuel development, reported Reuters.
The scheduled auction was set to offer approximately 400,000 acres of the refuge, yet required interested parties to declare their intent by the 6 January deadline.
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By GlobalDataThe absence of expressed interest has led to the cancellation of the planned auction. This contrasts with the previous administration’s efforts, where a 2021 sale of ANWR leases garnered just $14.4m in high bids, with an Alaska state agency being the main bidder.
Despite government estimates suggesting up to 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil in ANWR’s 1.6-million-acre coastal area along the Beaufort Sea, oil companies have shown reluctance to invest, likely due to developmental costs and the negative public image associated with drilling in a wildlife sanctuary.
Ahead of the auction, the Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, a native group supportive of drilling, criticised the sale’s limited scope, arguing it diminished the economic prospects for the region.
Conversely, the Gwich’in Steering Committee, representing tribes reliant on the caribou for subsistence, welcomed the lack of bids, asserting that “drilling in the Arctic Refuge is not worth the economic risk and liability that results from development on sacred lands without the consent of Indigenous Peoples”.
Alaska has taken legal action against the Biden administration, challenging the restrictions placed on the land offered in ANWR and the cancellation of leases issued during the Trump administration.
The state’s lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Alaska, seeks to address the reduced revenue from energy development, which is projected to be a fraction of the initially estimated $1.1bn.
Despite the push for development by Alaska lawmakers, including a provision in a Trump-backed tax cut bill, the industry’s response suggests a complex future for drilling in the refuge.
