The US administration is trimming the acreage available for oil and natural gas leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). In a bid to protect wildlife and preserve sensitive coastal areas, US interior secretary Ken Salazar unveiled a plan on 13 August to limit leasing in the 22.8mn acre (92,268km2) reserve to 9.8mn acres, rising to 11.8mn acres in 2018 after temporary drilling bans on a pair of tracts expire. Previously, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulations allowed leasing on 11mn acres, increasing to 13mn acres in 2018.
展开▼
