Trump officials visit key operations at prolific Alaska oil field amid push to expand drilling
The arrival of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin at Deadhorse came hours after Burgum's agency said it would follow through with plans to repeal Biden-era restrictions on future leasing and industrial development in portions of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The petroleum reserve is west of Deadhorse, which is located at Prudhoe Bay at the starting point for the nearly 50-year-old, 800-mile (1,287-kilometer) Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
Government and industry representatives from several Asian countries also were expected to participate in a portion of the U.S. officials' trip, as Trump has focused renewed attention on a massive, proposed natural gas pipeline project that Alaska officials have sought for decades as a way to provide gas to residents and overseas markets. The project has struggled to gain traction amid cost and other concerns, and even some state lawmakers remain skeptical it will come to fruition.
Wright on Monday said the gas line could become the 'big, beautiful twin' to the oil pipeline. This followed comments by Burgum a day earlier that the gas project carries potential national security benefits if the U.S. can sell liquefied natural gas to allies in Asia.
The Trump officials were joined Monday by a group that included U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Gov. Mike Dunleavy, both Republicans, who also took part in meetings Sunday in Anchorage and Utqiagvik. In that Arctic community, which this time of year experiences 24 hours of daylight, many Alaska Native leaders support Trump's push for more drilling in the petroleum reserve and to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. They lauded the visit after lamenting that they felt ignored by former President Joe Biden's administration.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an at-times vocal critic of Trump, joined for the Sunday meeting in Anchorage, where she said Alaska leaders 'want to partner with you. We want to be that equal at the table instead of an afterthought.'
Alaska political leaders have long complained about perceived federal overreach by the U.S. government, which oversees about 60% of lands in Alaska. Sullivan, Murkowski and Dunleavy have complained that Biden's team was too heavy-handed and restrictive in its approach to many resource development issues.
Environmentalists criticized Interior's planned rollback of restrictions in portions of the petroleum reserve designated as special for their wildlife, subsistence or other values. While Sullivan called the repeal a top priority, saying Congress intended to have development in the petroleum reserve, environmentalists maintain that the law balances allowances for oil drilling with a need to provide protections for sensitive areas.
The Interior Department said it will accept public comment on the planned repeal.
The visit by Trump officials also is slated to include addressing Dunleavy's annual energy conference Tuesday in Anchorage.
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Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
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