The Biden administration has announced it will conduct an oil and gas drilling lease auction in Alaska's ANWR on 9 January 2025, Reuters reported.
The US Interior Department confirmed on Monday that 400,000 acres (161,874 hectares) will be made available, the minimum mandated by legislation requiring the sale.
The ANWR spans 19 million acres and serves as a sanctuary for various species including polar bears and Porcupine caribou.
Despite the absence of roads and public facilities, the region's 1.6 million-acre coastal plain along the Beaufort Sea could hold up to 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the division of the Interior responsible for overseeing the auction, has stated that the offered acreage will exclude zones critical for polar bear dens and caribou calving grounds.
Alaska's elected officials have long advocated for drilling in the reserve to boost state jobs and revenue, with Congress authorising oil and gas development in the ANWR through the 2017 tax bill.
However, US Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, has voiced concerns over the scale of the planned sale, accusing the administration of disregarding the wishes of indigenous communities who stand to benefit from ANWR's development.
Sullivan said: "The good news is we will soon be working with the Trump administration that, unlike Biden-Harris, has a proven track record of responsible oil and gas production and Alaska resource development, and respects the voices of the Inupiat people of the North Slope.”
The Arctic Inupiat have expressed disappointment over the sale's limited size, suggesting it diminishes the economic opportunities for the region.
The auction has also been criticised by the American Petroleum Institute, which noted the lacklustre industry response to the first and only ANWR oil and gas auction four years ago.
In 2021, the Trump administration's lease sale in ANWR raised only $14.4m in high bids, with an Alaska state agency being the main bidder. The Biden administration later cancelled these leases in 2023, citing issues with the environmental analysis conducted.
Alaska Wilderness League executive director Kristen Miller said: "The Arctic Refuge deserves to remain a place of refuge, not an industrial oilfield lining the pockets of big oil executives."
The upcoming ten-year leases will start at a minimum price of $30 per acre. The bids will be publicly opened and announced through a livestream on the BLM website.
Successful bidders will be required to pay a 16.67% royalty to the US Government on any fuels extracted.
