Biden admin cancels 3 planned Alaska oil and gas lease sale

One of the most highly valued oil and gas lease opportunity was cancelled by the Biden administration, which had a great potential to drill oil over 1 million acres in Alaska. This decision comes at a time when there is the biggest need for oil and gas as the prices hit all-time high.

According to the statement from the Interior Department, "Due to the lack of interest from the industry in leasing this particular area, the administration has taken the decision to cancel the leasing plans. Along with that, two other leases that were under thought in the Mexico region were also halted because of the issues in court rulings."

The Department of the Interior is required by law to follow a five-year leasing strategy when auctioning offshore leases. These lease sales were to be completed by the end of the current five-year plan, which is slated to expire at the end of next month.


The White House had been mute on the big Alaska lease until today. However, revoking the sale would be consistent with President Joe Biden's campaign commitments to combat global warming. However, such promises have become a big political hurdle in the face of rising gas prices.

Frank Macchiarola, who is the senior vice president at American Petroleum Institute (API), said, "It's unfortunate to see that the administration first talks about the requirements of more supply and then by itself acts to restrict it. Along with that, we would also like to see if the government starts acting on the new 5-year program for the federal offshore leasing as the global energy crisis and volatility is continuously increasing."

But from the viewpoint of scientists and environmentalists who wants to continuously bring into light that "We humans need to shift from the usage of fossil fuel and its time to end offshore oil leasing."