Brent Is Still Above $100 With Gulf Tankers Under Attack. Speeding Up Alaska Oil Exploration Is the Right Call
Interior's new categorical exclusion, effective Oct. 9, lets BLM approve routine winter exploration in Alaska's 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve without a fresh environmental assessment each time. In our view, after 47 reviews over 28 years found no significant impact, that is common sense, and the safeguards that remain matter.
By Clara Hughes
ALTAS WORLD NEWS OPINION | By Clara Hughes, Chief Opinion Editor | October 13, 2026 | 6-min read On Monday, Brent crude traded up about 2% at $106.76 a barrel in late-morning New York trading, its highest since Sept. 29, as attacks on Saudi Arabia and on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz rattled markets, Reuters reported [1]. Days earlier, with far less fanfare, the Interior Department made it easier to look for oil on American soil. A notice in the Federal Register on Oct. 9 created a new "categorical exclusion" that lets the Bureau of Land Management approve routine wintertime oil and gas exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska without writing a new environmental assessment for every permit [2]. In our view, that is exactly the kind of quiet, practical step that builds energy security for the long haul. Key Takeaways The exclusion took effect Oct. 9, 2026, and covers winter seismic surveys, ice roads, ice pads, camps, water withdrawals and exploration drilling in the reserve [2]. BLM based it on 47 environmental assessments over the last 28 years that found no significant impact [2]. Every project must still be screened for "extraordinary circumstances," and a full review is required if significant effects are possible [2][3]. About 3.5