The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday will announce the cancellation of oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state development agency in 2021, according to sources briefed on the matter.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) was issued seven leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a day before the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who had pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre habitat for polar bears and caribou.
Interior and AIDEA officials were not immediately available for comment.
In June 2021, Biden’s administration said it would suspend the leases issued in ANWR pending an environmental review. AIDEA later sued in federal court.
Under former President Donald Trump, the Interior Department sold leases in ANWR over the objections of environmentalists and indigenous groups.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)