The Trump administration has scheduled an oil and gas lease sale covering about 5.5 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), a 23-million-acre federal unit on Alaska’s western North Slope. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said bids will be opened on March 9, 2026, with full sale details to be released after the notice is published in the Federal Register.
BLM described the sale as the first NPR-A offering since 2019 and the first of five lease sales mandated over the next decade under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last summer. The article notes that parts of the reserve are considered highly prospective, including areas associated with the Nanushuk formation, and that about 1.6 million acres in the NPR-A are already under lease. It also highlights ongoing and planned development in the region, including ConocoPhillips’ Willow project (expected startup in 2029, with peak production projected at 180,000 barrels per day) and nearby producing projects that began coming online over the last decade. For readers wanting background on how federal leasing works, see Leasing federal vs. private land for oil and gas exploration and Oil and gas lease basics.
Source: Alaska’s News Source
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