December 30, 2020
If you’ve ever wanted to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, this week could be your last, best chance: Bidding closes on Dec. 31 for a million acres worth of 10-year oil leases in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. The sale marks the fulfillment of a longstanding dream for the Trump administration and many Republicans in Congress, allowing drilling in the ecologically sensitive region for the first time.
There’s just one problem: Oil companies aren’t interested.
The number of bidders and their identities won’t be public until Jan. 6, when bids are opened by Interior Department officials. But so far, it looks like the only serious contender is the state of Alaska itself. Last week, the board of the state’s Industrial Development and Export Authority voted in favor of allowing the agency to spend up to $20 million on leases. The idea is not for the agency to drill there, but to hold on to the leases in the hope of subletting them out to drilling companies later when the oil market recovers from its pandemic slump. No other companies or other bidders have been made public yet.