Arctic refuge oil lease sale delayed by one day

By Amelia Davidson | 01/02/2025 01:46 PM EST

The sale was pushed to Jan. 10 due to a national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.

392886 20: (FILE PHOTO) This undated photo shows gras, a stream and mountains in the background in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The Bush administration''s controversial plan to open the refuge to oil drilling was approved by the House of Representatives on August 2, 2001, but it faces a tough battle in the Senate. (Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Getty Images)

This undated photo shows the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Fish and Wildlife Service/Getty Images

An oil and gas lease sale to drill on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be pushed back by one day because of an official day of mourning declared for former President Jimmy Carter, the Bureau of Land Management announced this week.

The congressionally mandated oil and gas lease sale was originally slated for Jan. 9, when federal agencies will be closed to honor Carter, who died on Dec. 29.

The sale will instead take place on Jan. 10, BLM said. All other sale procedures remain unchanged.

The Biden administration announced last month that it would open 400,000 acres of ANWR land in Alaska for leasing. The sale is the second that is required under the 2017 Tax Act.

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