The Trump Administration is fast-tracking a plan to finalize a lease sale for drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before Inauguration Day, a move that, if completed, promises to be one of the president’s most significant energy policy achievements, according to The Washington Post.
The plan released Monday calls for the first oil and gas auction to be held by December 2021, with the 1.6 million acre coastal plain on Alaska’s North Slope up for grabs. Drilling in the area was authorized by congress in 2017.
“This has been an important priority for the industry for a number of years,” said Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, who said the API would support seeing a lease sale this year.