Biden to Cancel Arctic Oil Drilling Rights Sold by Trump
- Move comes after controversial approval of Willow project
- Interior Department set to invalidate leases sold in 2021
A section of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System near Delta Junction, Alaska.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Biden administration is taking steps to thwart oil development in remote reaches of Alaska by canceling leases to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and setting up plans for more conservation in the state’s petroleum reserve.
The moves come in the wake of the administration’s controversial decision to approve ConocoPhillips’s 600-million-barrel Willow oil project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The initiatives announced Wednesday target territory in northern Alaska, long prized for its oil and gas potential — but also for its rich habitat, home to waterfowl, caribou, polar bears and other wildlife.