Oil reserves in Alaska, U.S. 1980-2020
Alaska has proved oil reserves amounting to 2.4 billion barrels in 2020. Proved reserves in the northernmost U.S. state are only a third of what they used to be in 1980, and oil production in Alaska has similarly declined. In 2017, the U.S. government implemented a law that allowed for parts of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to be leased for oil drilling in a bid to support tax cuts for corporations. A U.S. Geological Survey estimates the coastal plain area up for oil leases could hold close to 16 billion barrels of oil. Despite concerns from environmentalists and Native Alaskan tribes questioning the necessity of establishing even more oilfields, a court ruling in early January 2021 allowed for lease sale to proceed.
