Alaska Arctic Oil Leases Challenged by Litigation, Low Interest

Federal leases to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sold last week face immediate litigation as uncertainty over tribal rights and legal pitfalls surrounds drilling on the leased land, natural resources attorneys say.

Hex Energy LLC and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) bought five oil and gas leases in a June 5 Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale—the first of four lease sales mandated under Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending measure signed into law last year. But low industry interest in the sale and ongoing litigation stand to complicate efforts to ...