BLM - Bureau of Land Management
10/21/2025 | Press release | Archived content
BLM Seeks Nominations for Oil and Gas Lease Sale in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve
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BLM Seeks Nominations for Oil and Gas Lease Sale in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve
Notice marks initial step toward first lease sale under One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Organization:
Bureau of Land Management
Media Contact:
BLM Press
[email protected]
Oct 21, 2025
Ice road in the northeast NPR-A. Photo by Wayne Svejnoha (BLM)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Today the Bureau of Land Management took the first step toward holding a lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) by publishing a Call for Nominations and Comments in the Federal Register. This notice solicits feedback on what tracts should be made available in a lease sale this coming winter, which will be the first sale in the 23-million-acre reserve since 2019 and the first sale directed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
"Congress directed a program of expeditious leasing and development in the NPR-A to support America's energy independence, and that is more important today than ever," said BLM Alaska State Director Kevin Pendergast. "This lease sale gets us back on track toward further exploration and development in the reserve, as Congress envisioned."
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the BLM must hold no fewer than five lease sales in the reserve by 2035, with each sale offering at least 4,000,000 acres for lease. When developing sales, the BLM can consider tracts currently available for leasing under the December 2020 Record of Decision for the reserve's Integrated Activity Plan, a total of 18,581,000 acres. This action also fully supports the President's direction to unleash Alaska's extraordinary resource potential, consistent with Executive Order 14153.
Interested parties may nominate or comment on tracts until Nov. 21, 2025. Additional information, including a map showing available areas and legal descriptions of the tracts, are available on the BLM Alaska NPR-A Oil and Gas Lease Sale webpage.
After the 30-day period ends, the BLM will review nominations and comments received to determine what tracts to offer in the upcoming lease sale. The BLM will formally announce the lease sale with a Notice of Sale in the Federal Register at least 30 days in advance.
Approximately 1.6 million acres are leased in the reserve. To date, BLM has generated over $294 million in NPR-A lease sales since 1999.
The BLM manages about 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America's public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
BLM - Bureau of Land Management published this content on October 21, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 13, 2025 at 23:55 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]