US President Donald Trump wants to speed up the issuing of permits for oil drilling in a nature reserve in the state of Alaska. He would like to arrange this before Joe Biden is sworn in as his successor, sources say Bloomberg.
Biden has announced that he will not allow drilling in that area. It concerns the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge nature reserve in northeastern Alaska. Trump would now like to accelerate a permit process for oil companies.
Environmental groups are against the drilling because local nature and animals such as polar bears would be endangered by oil pollution, for example. Biden has said that drilling in the nature reserve would be a “major disaster”.
According to estimates by the US government, the conservation area contains recoverable oil reserves of between 4.3 billion and 11.8 billion barrels (of 159 liters).
It is still very questionable whether oil companies see sufficient opportunities in the area. The lack of infrastructure and low oil prices may make extraction unprofitable. In addition, there may be great public resistance if the drilling continues.
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