JUNEAU, Alaska — The Trump administration sent three Cabinet members to Alaska this week as it pursues oil drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reinvigorating a natural gas project that’s languished for years.

The visit by Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin comes after Trump signed an executive order this year aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska.

It also comes amid tariff talks with Asian countries that are seen as possible leverage for the administration to secure investments in the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas project.

Their itinerary included a meeting Sunday with resource development groups and Alaska Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski in Anchorage before they went to Utqiagvik, an Arctic town on the petroleum-rich North Slope where many Alaska Native leaders see oil development as economically vital to the region.

The federal officials visited the Prudhoe Bay oil field Monday near the coast of the Arctic Ocean and are scheduled to speak at Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s annual energy conference Tuesday in Anchorage.

Government and industry representatives from a number of Asian countries, including Japan, are participating in a portion of the trip, reflecting pressure from the U.S. to invest in a natural gas pipeline — despite skepticism and opposition from environmental groups.

In Alaska, some environmentalists criticized the agenda for Dunleavy’s conference. Highlighting fossil fuels alongside renewable or alternative energy make “energy sources of the past look more legitimate at a conference like this,” said Andy Moderow, senior policy director with the Alaska Wilderness League. “I think we should be looking at climate solutions that work for Alaskans, not trying to open up places that industry is taking a pass on, namely the Arctic refuge,” which is home to polar bears, musk ox, birds and other wildlife.