US President Barack Obama has withdrawn 40,300 sq miles of the Outer Continental Shelf off western Alaska from oil and gas leasing.
An executive order creating the “Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area” excludes the Norton Basin and St. Matthew-Hall planning areas from future OCS lease sales.
Both areas are adjacent to the state coast.
The action came the day after Alaska’s congressional delegation sent the president a letter requesting that he not further limit oil and gas leasing off their state (OGJ Online, Dec. 9, 2016).
