Alaskan authorities in the United States have filed a lawsuit against the administration of current President Joe Biden for granting limited rights to drill for oil wells in the coastal zone of the United States.
“The US state of Alaska has sued the Biden administration for what it says is violating a congressional directive to allow oil and gas development in part of the federal Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” according to Reuters.
The lawsuit says the Biden administration’s restrictions will severely limit future oil exploration and drilling in the reserve.
Previously, it was reported that Biden plans to introduce a ban on the development of new offshore oil and gas fields.
In 2017, Alaska lawmakers secured that opportunity through a provision in a Trump-backed tax cut bill passed by Congress. In the final days of Trump’s administration, it issued nine 10-year leases for drilling in ANWR.
The ban is expected to cover 2.5 million square kilometers of land off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The measure is being called an attempt to thwart US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to ramp up oil and gas production and “unpack” new fields.
Earlier, Miller stated that gas reserves at some Russian fields would last for 110 years.
