Elizabeth Harball

During the final public meeting in Alaska on oil leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a top Interior official said there could be some seismic exploration there this winter, after all.

A three-day public hearing ended Friday regarding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s bid to remove Hollis French from his position as chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

An Interior official has confirmed there will be no 3-D seismic exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this winter.

The Interior department is giving the public an additional month to weigh in on its controversial plans to allow oil leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

BP Alaska is one of the biggest oil companies in the state. To help address climate change, it's paying to keep forests standing on land managed by two Alaska Native corporations.

It was spurred by Interior's decision last week to bring in 40 employees to work on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's national offshore oil leasing plan. That plan, as initially drafted, would open up far more of Alaska's federal waters to oil development.

A state agency is holding a public hearing and requesting a field-wide review of all of BP's oil wells at Prudhoe Bay following an accident last month.

The Interior department has responded to questions from a Democratic Congressman about its continued work to advance oil development in Alaska during the partial government shutdown.

As the partial government shutdown drags on, the Trump administration is making sure some Interior Department employees continue work on one of its biggest, most controversial priorities: opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

One year after Congress voted to allow oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Trump administration has taken another step towards making it happen.