Alaska Delegation Celebrates Largest-Ever NPR-A Lease Sale
Washington, DC— U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and U.S. Congressman Nick Begich (all R-Alaska) today celebrated the results of the most successful oil and gas lease sale ever held in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).
The delegation mandated the sale, the first held in the NPR-A since 2019, through last year’s budget reconciliation bill. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the sale was “exceptionally competitive” drawing 430 bids on nearly 200 tracts across 1.3 million acres. High bids totaled $163 million—the most in the history of the NPR-A—and will be split equally between the federal government and the State of Alaska.
By comparison, the last lease sale in the NPR-A brought in $11.3 million, making today’s total for high bids more than 1,300 percent higher.
Statement from Senator Lisa Murkowski:
“This is a great day for Alaska that further demonstrates the world-class energy potential across our North Slope. The delegation has focused on the NPR-A not only because it is a petroleum reserve—one of the most obvious places to produce energy anywhere in the nation—but also because we knew that industry’s interest in this area is remarkably strong. Our efforts to restore access, return to the rule of law, and get this program back on track have now been fully validated by these historic results. The best part is, the best is yet to come. From here, these leases will lead to new development and production, creating good jobs, generating even more revenues, and strengthening our energy security. I look forward to all of it and thank Secretary Burgum and his team for being excellent partners on behalf of Alaska.”
Statement from Senator Dan Sullivan:
“Today’s historic lease sale in the NPR-A is another clear sign that Alaska’s Comeback is underway—unlocking our vast resource potential, creating good-paying jobs, and strengthening both our state’s energy economy and the energy security of our entire country. This lease sale wasn’t just historic in the amount of bids, but also in terms of the companies bidding, from some of the biggest energy companies in the world, to smaller aggressive wildcatters. This milestone is the direct result of a three-pronged approach I have worked on for years to restore investment certainty in our state.
“First, President Trump’s Day One Alaska-specific executive order, Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential, set the stage to realign federal policy and empower Alaska to meet our nation’s energy needs and start to reverse the Biden-era Last Frontier Lock Up of Alaska. Second, we passed the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which mandates five lease sales in the NPR-A over the next decade, ending the uncertainty caused by political pendulum swings and finally putting development certainty into law. It's important to note that Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer fought to strip these Alaska energy provisions from this historic bill. And third, by working with my colleagues to overturn the Biden administration’s unlawful NPR-A rule through the Congressional Review Act, we reversed one of the most comprehensive and egregious examples of federal overreach and restored the balance Congress originally intended.
“For years, Alaska was whipsawed by one-size-fits-all federal actions—more than 70 executive orders and actions by the Biden administration specifically targeting our state—that ignored both the law and the voices of our communities. The Biden administration’s NPR-A rule alone locked up roughly half of the Reserve, despite Congress’s clear mandate for responsible development, undermining the jobs, revenues, and energy production that our communities—particularly on the North Slope—depend on. Overturning that rule not only reopened opportunity in the NPR-A, it will work to prevent future politically driven lock-ups of the area.
“Today’s lease sale is clear proof that this approach is working for Alaska and our economy. I want to thank President Trump and Secretary Burgum for their leadership in helping us advance this comprehensive, Alaska-focused approach to resource development and job creation. Together, we are restoring long-term certainty, strengthening American energy security, creating thousands of jobs, and continuing the Alaska Comeback for families and communities across our state.”
Statement from Congressman Nick Begich:
“For decades, Alaska’s resource potential was clear, but access was restricted. Today’s lease sale marks a new chapter of certainty for Alaska. When we remove federal barriers, investments in Alaska’s future follow. Removing those federal barriers and unlocking millions of acres in the NPR-A is a direct result of hard-fought efforts and strategic policymaking – provisions my team and I crafted and worked tirelessly to advance out of the House Natural Resources Committee while working to secure Alaska’s fair share of the benefits and increasing our revenue share from 50 percent to 70 percent starting in 2035. This is a major step toward long-term economic stability for our state. I’m grateful to Senator Murkowski and Senator Sullivan for their work in the Senate to ensure this effort became law. This is a clear example of what coordinated leadership across our delegation can deliver for Alaska. This lease sale is just the beginning of a stronger Alaska and a more secure American energy future.”
The NPR-A spans roughly 23 million acres in northwest Alaska and is roughly the size of Indiana. Congress specifically designated the area for responsible energy development, directing the Department of the Interior, through BLM, to conduct an “expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas.”
The Biden administration ignored the law and sought to turn most of the petroleum reserve into de facto federal wilderness—refusing to hold a single lease sale; imposing an Integrated Activity Plan that closed at least 48 percent of its surface acreage to leasing; promulgating an illegal rule that established a presumption against new leasing and development; and initiating a process to expand and create new Special Areas where development could not occur.
The Alaska delegation has worked closely with the Trump administration and congressional colleagues to restore an effective NPR-A oil and gas program:
- In January 2025, President Trump issued a day-one Executive Order for Alaska directing the rescission of damaging Biden-era rules and regulations that violated federal law to limit opportunity in the NPR-A.
- Last summer, the delegation added a provision on NPR-A to the budget reconciliation bill, restoring access to millions of acres in the reserve, mandating at least five lease sales over the next decade, and increasing Alaska’s share of revenues from 50 percent to 70 percent starting in Fiscal Year 2034.
- In December 2025, the President signed into law a disapproval resolution led by Sullivan that nullified the Biden administration’s Integrated Activity Plan (IAP) for the NPR-A, restoring the first Trump administration’s management plan and preventing future administrations from attempting similar restrictions. Murkowski cosponsored the legislation and Begich led a companion resolution in the House.
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