The 1.56-million-acre coastal plain section (1002 Area) of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Alaska's North Slope, opened to oil and gas leasing by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Federal lease sales have repeatedly been canceled, rebid, and litigated; AIDEA is one of the sole remaining lessees. Subject to overlapping federal authorities (DOI, BLM, FWS) and Gwich'in / Inupiat consultation.
AIDEA put $190M behind ANWR seismic and lease bidding. Kaktovik — the only community inside the refuge — strongly supported it.

The Justice Department conceded Alaska was right that the 2024 Arctic Refuge leasing program violated federal law by capping development below what Congress allowed.

The Arctic Refuge lease sale brought in $3.7 million from two bidders, a modest showing compared with the recent NPR-A sale’s 11 companies and $163 million-plus in receipts.
Alaska's state investment bank meets privately July 8 on its biggest bets — Arctic Refuge oil, the Ambler mining road, Port MacKenzie — with public money on the line.

