Trump Administration Aims to Speed Oil Permitting in Alaska

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline in Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo by Stefani Reynolds /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration plans to streamline the permitting process for oil developments inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska as it pushes to accelerate crude production in the US Arctic.

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The Interior Department initiative aims to establish a new permit framework for building and operating oil production sites and related infrastructure within the reserve. Under the approach, qualifying projects could be more swiftly analyzed and authorized, potentially in just 30 days.

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“The faster we can cut through the speed of those regulations, the faster we can bring down prices for America,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Friday as he announced the plan during a visit to the petroleum reserve.

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The effort could benefit ConocoPhillips, Santos Ltd., Repsol SA and other companies that hold leases within the reserve by expediting government reviews of projects like ConocoPhillips’ Willow development that drew strong opposition from climate activists.

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The proposed changes are apt to stoke concern among environmentalists who have battled Arctic oil development that they say imperils a region rich in wildlife while also prolonging the world’s reliance on planet-warming fossil fuels.

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The effort, Burgum said, builds on what industry and federal regulators have already learned about responsible oil development in the region. 

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“We know we can speed up permitting a common sense way,” Burgum said in an interview. 

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The Trump administration has amplified its calls for US oil companies to ramp up production during the war in Iran as about 20% of the world’s supply is trapped in the Persian Gulf. 

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President Donald Trump has celebrated surging US crude exports during the conflict, as American oil companies help fill the global supply gap. Trump has described tankers steaming toward Louisiana, Texas and Alaska to load American oil, even raising the prospect of China buying more US barrels during an interview with Fox News on the eve of his summit in Beijing.

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The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Anchorage, is a sprawling 23 million acres (9.3 million hectares) or about the size of the State of Indiana. 

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The stretch of flat tundra was first set aside for oil and gas production for the Navy a century ago. It has drawn new interest following a string of discoveries that highlight its potential crude reserves, with the US government estimating it contains some 8.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

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ExxonMobil Corp. Shell Plc, Armstrong Oil & Gas and other oil companies bid some $164 million on leases in the reserve during a record-setting government auction in March.

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The proposed permitting initiative hinges on a bid by the Interior Department to conduct a broad environmental study of a typical development in the reserve that assesses the impacts of potential wells, gravel roads, processing units and other facilities customarily at the sites.