Trump officials visit key operations at prolific Alaska oil field amid push to expand drilling

DEADHORSE Alaska AP Three Trump Cabinet members began a tour at a key point of operations at a prolific oil field near the Arctic Ocean in Alaska on Monday part of a multiday trip aimed at highlighting President Donald Trump s push to expand oil and gas drilling mining and logging in the state The arrival of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum Resource Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin at Deadhorse came hours after Burgum s agency announced it would follow through with plans to repeal Biden-era restrictions on future leasing and industrial maturation in portions of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska The petroleum reserve is west of Deadhorse which is located at Prudhoe Bay at the starting point for the nearly -year-old -mile -kilometer Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Establishment and industry representatives from several Asian countries also were expected to participate in a portion of the U S agents trip as Trump has focused renewed attention on a massive proposed natural gas pipeline project that Alaska administrators have sought for decades as a way to provide gas to residents and overseas markets The project has struggled to gain traction amid cost and other concerns and even particular state lawmakers remain skeptical it will come to fruition Wright on Monday commented the gas line could become the big beautiful twin to the oil pipeline This followed comments by Burgum a day earlier that the gas project carries likely national measure benefits if the U S can sell liquefied natural gas to allies in Asia The Trump agents were joined Monday by a group that included U S Sen Dan Sullivan and Gov Mike Dunleavy both Republicans who also took part in meetings Sunday in Anchorage and Utqiagvik In that Arctic population which this time of year experiences hours of daylight numerous Alaska Native leaders encouragement Trump s push for more drilling in the petroleum reserve and to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil advancement They lauded the visit after lamenting that they felt ignored by former President Joe Biden s administration U S Sen Lisa Murkowski an at-times vocal critic of Trump joined for the Sunday meeting in Anchorage where she commented Alaska leaders want to partner with you We want to be that equal at the table instead of an afterthought Alaska political leaders have long complained about perceived federal overreach by the U S regime which oversees about of lands in Alaska Sullivan Murkowski and Dunleavy have complained that Biden s band was too heavy-handed and restrictive in its approach to a large number of asset improvement issues Environmentalists criticized Interior s planned rollback of restrictions in portions of the petroleum reserve designated as special for their wildlife subsistence or other values While Sullivan called the repeal a top priority saying Congress intended to have growth in the petroleum reserve environmentalists maintain that the law balances allowances for oil drilling with a need to provide protections for sensitive areas The Interior Department commented it will accept community comment on the planned repeal The visit by Trump executives also is slated to include addressing Dunleavy s annual capacity conference Tuesday in Anchorage Bohrer revealed from Juneau Alaska Source