US to offer oil and gas leases in Alaska wildlife refuge on Jan. 9 [View all]

[OKIsItJustMe]

Source: AP

US to offer oil and gas leases in Alaska wildlife refuge on Jan. 9
6:19 PM EST

Dec 9 (Reuters) - The Biden administration will offer oil and gas drilling leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge at a sale on Jan. 9, the U.S. Interior Department said on Monday.

The agency will make 400,000 acres (161,874 hectares) available to drillers at the auction, the minimum required by a law that mandated the sale.

ANWR is a 19-million-acre refuge for species including polar bears and Porcupine caribou. The wild landscape lacks roads and public facilities, but its 1.6-million-acre coastal area along the Beaufort Sea is estimated to have up to 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Alaska's elected officials have sought for years to open drilling in the reserve to secure jobs and revenues for the state. Congress opened up ANWR to oil and gas development as part of the 2017 tax bill.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-offer-oil-gas-leases-alaska-wildlife-refuge-jan-9-2024-12-09/