22 ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW SPRING 2025 lease to companies willing to do the work. However, the agency also has proposed a regional seismic program to gather information on subsurface geology, a proposal the Interior Department under Haaland turned down. It’s likely the agency again will propose the program, this time to new Interior Department leaders more open to oil and gas. This also is likely to encourage Alaska Native corporations that own a 91,000acre inholding in the refuge to include their lands in regional exploration. Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and Kaktovik Inupiat Corp., which own the lands, had proposed a seismic program on their holdings earlier but were denied permits by Haaland. Seismic exploration would be the first step in planning exploration drilling. There have been no test wells drilled in the region other than a well in the early 1980s drilled by Chevron and BP on the Native corporation-owned lands. Results of the well are still confidential. While Alaskans hope for major discoveries in ANWR, there are mixed views among some geologists. It’s likely the regional geologic trend east from state lands, where finds have been made, bodes well for ANWR, and the availability of infrastructure at the large Point Thomson gas and condensate field just west of ANWR would ease development of any new finds. On the other hand, the region is not located near the Barrow Arch, a large geologic formation that runs west-to-east along the Alaska Beaufort Sea coast. Most of the large North Slope discoveries have been made along this regional structure. It is missing in ANWR. There could be legal and regulatory complications, too. One is that there are now differing federal Environmental Impact Statements and sets of lease terms and stipulations on ANWR leasing, which Burgum will have to resolve. The first EIS was for the first lease sale held in 2020 under Trump that has been argued to be too lenient. The second EIS was revised and tightened by Haaland for a second lease sale held last year, which attracted no bids. If Burgum opts to issue AIDEA’s leases or hold a new sale under the more relaxed 2020 EIS and lease stipulations — instead of the more recent and restrictive 2023 EIS and lease terms issued by Haaland — conservation groups will be quick to sue. The practice is usually for the most recent EIS to be used. If it isn’t, the Interior Department will have to explain in court why the lease terms are being relaxed. This will require scientific explanations on the differences in protective measures, for example for species such as polar bears and caribou. Despite these uncertainties, Gleason’s decision to restore AIDEA’s leases was praised by Inupiat leaders on the North Slope. Seismic exploration would be the first step in planning exploration drilling. There have been no test wells drilled in the region other than a well in the early 1980s drilled by Chevron and BP on the Native corporation-owned lands. Results of the well are still confidential. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20
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