By Yereth Rose

ANCHORAGE (Reuters) – The Biden administration declared Monday it would reverse a Trump-era policy which opened vast swathes Arctic Alaska land up to oil development.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, it is going to reverse the Trump administration decision that allowed expanded leasing and development of the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) in Alaska. Although Trump made several efforts to increase oil-and gas development in Alaska, the production fell to 43 years ago in 2020 as drilling crews shifted their focus to Texas and other lower 48 US states.

The official notice of the changes will be in an Alaska federal court notice, which is to be filed Monday at the Alaska Federal Court, the Bureau of Land Management, a Division of Department of the Interior stated in a statement.

It stated that “This decision is a reflection of the Biden-Harris Administration’s priority to review existing oil and gas programmes to ensure balance America’s public land and waters for current and future generations.”

The Trump administration in its waning days approved a plan to allow oil leasing and development in more than 80% percent of the 23-million-acre (9.3-million-hectare) reserve. It replaced the 2013 Obama administration plan that covered only half of the reserve.

Trump’s Cplan – One of its most controversial aspects was approval of oil development at Teshekpuk Lake. It is the North Slope’s largest lake and important habitat for Arctic birds, caribou and others.

Teshekpuk Lake was protected by policies and plans dating back to Reagan’s administration. Obama’s plan increased protections for the wetlands around the lake.

The NPR-A is located on the west side of the North Slope and has seen many important oil discovery and development. The decision not to return to Obama-era management plans will have no impact on any of these projects; the leases for all existing projects were sold over the past year.

Trump’s plan for leasing had not resulted in any lease sales. Last NPR-A sale was conducted by BLM in 2019.

According to U.S. Energy Department, the state produced 448,000 barrels per day last year. In 1988 production reached more than 2,000,000 barrels per hour.