North Slope

Dunleavy said that he plans to have a dialog with Biden administration officials, but if he sees a consistent pattern of opposition, the governor will “use whatever tools are necessary” to fight back.  

Inspectors found 2.4 ounces of blue “M30” pills that contained fentanyl hidden in a vacuum-sealed bag inside the motor housing of an Oster blender.

President Joe Biden imposed a “temporary moratorium” on all oil and gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge shortly after taking office on Wednesday, citing the “alleged legal deficiencies underlying the program” and the inadequacy of a required environmental review.

There is still great uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and oil demand, making it impossible to predict what prices will look like in the months ahead. 

The state won 10-year oil leases for nine pieces of land by submitting the minimum offer: $25 an acre. But drilling for oil in the refuge is expensive, and it faces an aggressive opposition campaign.

One of the Trump administration’s biggest energy initiatives suffered a stunning setback Wednesday, as a decades-long push to drill for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ended with a lease sale that attracted just three bidders — one of which was the state of Alaska itself.

It’s a win for the Trump administration, which has pushed to lock in drilling in the refuge in its final weeks, before President-elect Joe Biden takes office and can try to stop it.

With the first-ever oil lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just two days away, a federal judge in Anchorage will consider a request Monday to stop the Trump administration from issuing the oil leases.

It’s a controversial move, and a way for the state to secure drilling rights in the coastal plain in case no one else bids on the leases.

While geologists say the rock formations, oil seeps and old seismic results seem promising, big questions remain about where the oil is trapped, and exactly how much of it there is.