National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) — Oil and Gas Leasing on the North Slope's Federal Petroleum Reserve

Legal Authority

• 42 U.S.C. § 6508 — Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976; transferred NPR-A from Navy to Interior Department management; directed the Secretary to conduct an expeditious program of petroleum exploration and leasing; established environmental and subsistence use protections and consultation requirements with Alaska Native communities
• 43 U.S.C. § 1733 — Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA); grants BLM general authority to manage federal public lands including enforcement and lease administration; applies to NPR-A management alongside the NPRPA
• 43 CFR Part 3130 — BLM implementing regulation; establishes the NPR-A competitive leasing process, tract sizes (up to 60,000 acres), 10-year primary terms, royalty rates, bonding, unitization agreements, and lease transfer and suspension procedures

Key Mechanics

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is a 23-million-acre federal petroleum reserve on Alaska's North Slope — the largest single unit of federal public land in the United States. BLM conducts competitive lease sales under 43 CFR Part 3130, selling 10-year primary terms on tracts up to 60,000 acres (far larger than standard onshore leases, reflecting Arctic exploration economics). Lessees pay annual rentals escalating from $1.50 to $2.00/acre and royalties of at least 12.5% of production value. Before issuing any lease, the Secretary must notify the Attorney General for antitrust review — a unique NPR-A statutory requirement. Leasing decisions must give "substantial" weight to subsistence uses and to recommendations of the North Slope Borough and Alaska Native communities. The 2023 approval of the Willow Project (ConocoPhillips, ~180,000 barrels/day capacity) proceeded under NPR-A leasing authorities after a complex environmental review. A 2024 Biden rule (89 FR 30358) restricted leasing in approximately 40% of NPR-A coastal plain areas; the Trump administration placed those restrictions under review in 2025. Active production from NPR-A fields feeds into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).

Current Rule (2026)

What This Rule Does

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) is a 23-million-acre federal petroleum reserve on the North Slope of Alaska — the largest single unit of federal public land in the United States, larger than the state of West Virginia. Originally set aside in 1923 as Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 (NPR-4) to ensure a Navy fuel supply, it was transferred to Interior management in 1976 under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, which directed the Secretary to conduct an expeditious program of petroleum exploration and leasing. Since 1999, BLM has held competitive lease sales in the NPR-A under 43 CFR Part 3130, and the reserve now contains active oil production from fields including Willow (approved 2023), Pikka, and others that feed into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

Part 3130 governs every aspect of competitive oil and gas leasing within the NPR-A: how leases are offered and issued, the primary 10-year lease term, rentals and royalties, unitization agreements that allow multiple lessees in a common reservoir to operate as a coordinated unit, bonding requirements, and how leases are transferred, suspended, or terminated. NPR-A leasing follows a competitive bidding model similar to onshore federal lands, but with NPR-A-specific rules reflecting the reserve's unique statutory mandate, its sensitive coastal plain and wetland habitats, and the consultation requirements with Alaska Native communities and corporations that depend on subsistence resources from the area.

Key Provisions

General Leasing Framework (Subpart 3130)

• § 3130.0-2 — Policy: the oil and gas leasing program within NPR-A is conducted in accordance with the purposes and policy directions of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act; environmental protection and the availability of the petroleum resources to the general public are coequal considerations in the program; the Secretary must give "substantial" weight to subsistence uses and to the recommendations of the North Slope Borough (the local Alaskan government) and Alaska Native communities in making leasing decisions

• § 3130.1 — Attorney General review: before issuing any lease, contract, or operating agreement, the Secretary must notify the Attorney General of the contemplated lease terms; the Attorney General may advise on antitrust implications; this is a unique requirement reflecting NPR-A's original legislative history

• § 3130.4-1 — Tract size: a tract selected for a lease sale shall consist of a compact area of not more than 60,000 acres — significantly larger than the 2,560-acre maximum for typical onshore competitive oil and gas lease parcels under the Mineral Leasing Act, reflecting the scale of North Slope exploration economics

• § 3130.4-2 — Lease term: the primary term of an NPR-A lease is 10 years (compared to 10 years for offshore leases and typically 10 years for onshore competitive leases under the Inflation Reduction Act's changes); the 10-year term provides time for exploration in the remote Arctic environment

• § 3130.3 — Drainage: if BLM determines that federal land in NPR-A is being drained by production from an adjacent lease, it may take action to protect the government's interest under the general onshore drainage regulations

Leasing Program and Lease Sales (Subpart 3131)

BLM maintains a leasing program for NPR-A that includes environmental analysis under NEPA and consultation with subsistence users and Alaska Native entities. Historically, BLM has held NPR-A lease sales every 1–2 years, offering tracts nominated by industry and evaluated through environmental review. The Reserve is divided into "special areas" — portions of NPR-A designated for elevated protection based on wildlife, subsistence, and cultural values — where leasing is restricted or prohibited, and general areas where competitive leasing occurs.

Rentals and Royalties (Subpart 3133)

• Rentals are charged annually during the primary term to maintain a lease in the absence of production; typical rates are $1.50/acre in the first 5 years and higher thereafter, consistent with onshore federal leasing rates
• Royalties on NPR-A production are set at 16.67% (one-sixth) of the value of production; the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 raised minimum royalty rates for onshore federal leases to 16.67% generally, and NPR-A leases follow this standard
• Under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, 50% of all NPR-A revenues (rentals, royalties, and bonuses) are distributed to Alaska (split between the state government and the North Slope Borough); this mandatory revenue sharing is unique to NPR-A and exceeds the 25% state/county share for other federal mineral revenues

Unitization Agreements (Subpart 3137 — 55 sections)

Unitization is the largest substantive component of the NPR-A regulations. A unitization agreement combines multiple leases in a common oil or gas reservoir into a single operating unit managed by a designated unit operator. Unitization prevents inefficient competitive drilling — the "rule of capture" problem — by treating the reservoir as a single pool and allocating production to each lease based on its proportionate share of the reservoir (the "tract participation factor").

• § 3137.10 — Benefits of unitization: a lease committed to a unit agreement meets its full drilling and production obligations if the unit as a whole is being developed; this allows lessees in less productive tracts to benefit from unit-wide drilling activity without losing their leases for failure to produce

• § 3137.11 — Consultation with Alaska Native corporations: if lands owned by Alaska Native regional corporations (under ANCSA) or the State of Alaska are within the proposed unit area, BLM must consult with the corporation or state before approving the unit agreement — a requirement that recognizes the checkerboard land ownership pattern in NPR-A where federal, state, and Native corporation lands are interspersed

• § 3137.100 — Allocation of production from unleased federal lands: when the unit's "participating area" (the productive portion of the reservoir) includes unleased federal land within NPR-A, BLM determines how production attributable to those unleased lands must be allocated; the government's proportionate share of production from unleased federal lands flows to the Treasury (and 50% to Alaska) rather than to a lessee

• § 3137.111 — Lease extension through unitization: BLM will extend the primary term of all leases committed to a unit agreement as long as the unit is engaged in drilling or production operations; this is a critical benefit — in the NPR-A's remote environment, exploration can take years, and unitization prevents lease expirations from disrupting an ongoing exploration program

• § 3137.130 — Voluntary termination: BLM will approve a voluntary unit termination before the unit operator has established a participating area if production and drilling obligations cannot be met; once a participating area has been established, termination requires BLM approval and a finding that further development is not economically or technically feasible

Bonding (Subpart 3134)

Lessees must post bonds ensuring performance of their obligations and proper reclamation of the land after operations cease. Bond amounts for NPR-A leases follow the same schedule as other BLM leases under 43 CFR Part 3104, with adjustments for the remote location and the higher reclamation costs typical of Arctic operations. BLM may require supplemental bonds based on actual or anticipated cleanup costs.

How It Affects You

Oil and gas companies operating in Alaska: NPR-A offers the largest remaining undeveloped federal onshore oil province in the United States, with estimated recoverable resources exceeding 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the general leasing area. The Willow project (ConocoPhillips) — approved by Interior in 2023 — is the first major NPR-A development in the modern era. The leasing and unitization process under Part 3130 governs your rights and obligations throughout the exploration-to-production lifecycle. Key planning points: the 10-year primary lease term provides runway for Arctic-scale exploration; unitization under Subpart 3137 is essential for multi-operator reservoirs; mandatory consultation with subsistence users and Alaska Native entities is a legal obligation, not optional outreach; and 16.67% royalty on production flows to both federal and state coffers.

Alaska Native communities and North Slope Borough: The NPR-A regulations require the Secretary to give "substantial" weight to subsistence uses and to recommendations from Alaska Native communities and the North Slope Borough in making leasing decisions. Formal consultation rights exist both in the initial leasing program (area-wide environmental analysis) and in individual lease decisions. The North Slope Borough and affected villages have legal standing to comment on leasing decisions and unitization agreements; BLM must respond to those comments in its decision records. Alaska Native regional corporations that hold surface or subsurface rights to land within or adjacent to NPR-A have additional legal interests that BLM must consult on under § 3137.11.

Environmental organizations and subsistence advocates: The NPR-A's "special areas" — designated for heightened protection — have been the central battleground of NPR-A leasing policy across administrations. The Biden administration's 2024 rule (89 FR 30358) restricted new leasing in significant portions of the NPR-A, including areas used for subsistence and polar bear denning habitat. The Trump administration has signaled its intent to reverse or narrow these restrictions. Challenges to leasing decisions proceed under NEPA's environmental impact statement requirements and under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act's "substantial weight" mandate — courts have interpreted the "substantial weight to subsistence" language as a procedural rather than substantive constraint, but inadequate consultation can ground a lease sale challenge.

State of Alaska and North Slope Borough: Under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, 50% of all NPR-A revenues flow to Alaska — with the state and the North Slope Borough sharing based on a statutory formula. Active leasing and production from NPR-A generates significant revenue for both governments. The North Slope Borough's property tax authority over oil production equipment (upheld by courts even for federal lessees) provides an additional revenue stream. The Borough and the state have strong fiscal interests in active NPR-A leasing and production, which often aligns their positions with industry in federal leasing proceedings.

Statutory Authority

This rule implements:

• 42 U.S.C. § 6508 — Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 § 103; transferred NPR-A administration from the Navy to the Secretary of the Interior; directed the Secretary to conduct an expeditious program of petroleum exploration and leasing; established the "substantial weight to subsistence" requirement; set the 50% revenue sharing for Alaska
• 43 U.S.C. § 1733 — Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) § 303; provides general BLM authority to regulate uses of federal public lands, including oil and gas activities, subject to applicable laws and environmental requirements

Recent Rulemakings

• 2024 (89 FR 30358): Biden administration final rule withdrew approximately 13 million acres of NPR-A from future oil and gas leasing — roughly 40% of the reserve — designating additional "special areas" including the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area expansion and the coastal plain; the rule was challenged in federal court and is under review by the Trump administration for potential reversal or modification
• 2024 (89 FR 7352): Interior finalized the Record of Decision for the Willow Master Development Plan (ConocoPhillips), approving up to three drill pads and approximately 600 million barrels of recoverable oil, making Willow the largest new federal onshore oil development in decades
• Prior major leasing area plan updates: 2013 (Integrated Activity Plan) defined the leasing and special areas framework that governed NPR-A for the Obama and Trump administrations

Pending Action