The US Department of the Interior will shortly begin on the steps to schedule an oil and gas lease sale in Area 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), according to reports in early March 2018. Deputy Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, announced on 8 March 2018 that the first step of the scoping process will be a notice of intent in the Federal Register for an environmental review of Area 1002, located on the North Slope coastal plain. Oil and gas exploration in Area 1002 comprises part of President Donald Trump's sweeping US$ 1.5 trillion tax cut bill, which was passed through the Senate on 18-19 December 2017. Area 1002 encompasses ~6,070 sq km (1.5 million acres) of ANWR's total ~76,890 sq km (19 million acres). The bill will enable the US Department of Interior to hold a lease sale of at least 1,619 sq km (400,000 acres) by 2021, followed by another sale (of the same size) in 2024 or thereabouts. In a statement, Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said: "It's time to open the non-wilderness 1002 Area to responsible development, for the benefit of all Alaskans and Americans." For more than four decades, Alaska's congressional delegation and their oil and gas allies have been pushing to drill in ANWR. According to a 2000 report by the US Energy Information Administration, ANWR is "the largest unexplored, potentially productive geologic onshore basin in the United States."
The US Department of the Interior will shortly begin on the steps to schedule an oil and gas lease sale in Area 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), according to reports in early March 2018. 