New leadership at Alaska Oil and Gas Association.
Alaska oil group hires former Interior staffer as new leader
Heather Richards, E & E News, October 30, 2025
Steve Wackowski served in the first Trump administration and is a former congressional staffer.
An alum of the first Trump administration’s Interior Department has been named the new president and CEO of the Alaska Oil & Gas Association.
Steve Wackowski, who served as Interior’s senior adviser for Alaska affairs from 2017 to 2020, joins AOGA after nearly two years with Santos, a prominent oil and gas driller in Alaska.
He replaces Kara Moriarty, the previous AOGA president who joined the Trump administration earlier this year as senior adviser for Alaskan affairs at Interior.
A change in China’s trade policy could benefit Alaska.
Donald Trump Announces Alaska Gas Deal With China
Jasmine Laws, John Feng, Newsweek, October 30, 2025
President Donald Trump has suggested a possible oil and gas deal for Alaska with China following his meeting with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday: “A very large-scale transaction may take place concerning the purchase of oil and gas from the great state of Alaska.”
Why It Matters
China has previously avoided purchasing U.S. crude oil and has been reselling U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) since early this year. America only accounted for around five percent of China’s LNG imports and two percent of its crude oil imports in 2024, according to Chinese customs data. Trump’s announcement indicates a change in China’s trade policy.
It comes after trade tensions escalated rapidly between the U.S. and China this year, with tariffs being imposed by both nations.
Pentagon, White House, Capitol Hill fueling Alaska mining sector.
Alaska mining is achieving critical mass
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, October 31, 2025
Backing from the Pentagon, White House, and Capitol Hill, coupled with soaring metals prices, is fueling new growth for the sector.
With the price of copper, gold, and silver hitting new all-time highs, the Pentagon looking North for secure supplies of critical minerals, and a White House administration focused on unleashing the resource potential of America’s Last Frontier, the mining sector in Alaska has reached critical mass in 2025.
While Alaska’s mining industry has been building toward critical mass for decades, the 2024 election started a reaction that could sustain sector growth over the coming decade.
This chain reaction is visible across the state: in the Ambler Mining District, where a road reauthorized by the Trump administration is opening the metals-rich region for development and exploration; at Graphite Creek near Nome, an Alaska Native– and federally-backed mine project that will help break America’s dependence on China for graphite, the largest ingredient in lithium-ion batteries; and in the emerging West Susitna Mining District, where a high-grade antimony project backed by the Pentagon is establishing a cornerstone for further development of this Southcentral region enriched with millions of ounces of gold and billions of pounds of copper.
The significance of Alaska’s mineral wealth and strategic Arctic location is now a headlining topic of national conversation – from the Pentagon to the White House and Capitol Hill.
“Strategically, Alaska is one of the most important states for our nation, with its location, minerals, land, and natural resource assets,” Congressman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) said during an August tour of Alaska with his colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee.
And as federal policies help catalyze the development of key resource regions, record-breaking metal prices are adding another surge of energy to world-class, though often remote, mining projects across Alaska. This is especially true for Donlin Gold, where soaring prices and a newly motivated partner are providing the impetus to develop a million-ounce-per-year mine decades in the making.
This pipeline of federally backed and market-supported projects is building on an already growing mining sector in Alaska, which is on pace to deliver more than $5 billion worth of gold, silver, zinc, lead, and coal this year.