President Barack Obama has invoked a law to indefinitely ban drilling for oil and gas across enormous parts of US waters - and President-elect Donald Trump won't be able to repeal it.

Obama used a provision in the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that allows a President to take any unleased lands in the Outer Continental Shelf off the market.

And because the law has no provision allowing other Presidents to repeal it, Donald Trump won't be able to undo the action quickly - if at all, CNBC reported.

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Banned: Barack Obama has banned oil and gas drilling in areas of the Outer Continental Shelf north of Alaska (pictured in red), using a 1953 act to protect the environment in those areas

Blocked: Drilling has also been blocked in 31 canyons (pictured in red) off the East Coast. The blocks will continue indefinitely, and cannot be repealed by President-elect Trump

Obama announced the move on Tuesday, saying that the areas - which cover most of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska's north coast and 31 underwater canyons off the East Coast - would be protected for ecological reasons.

The same day, Canada put a block on all oil and gas drilling in the Canadian Arctic, and announced a joint move with the US to identify sustainable shipping lanes through their neighboring Arctic waters.

'These actions, and Canada's parallel actions, protect a sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on earth,' Obama said in a statement.

'They reflect the scientific assessment that, even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region's harsh conditions is limited.'

The White House also said that it would take 'decades' for oil and gas infrastructure to be built and put into action in the inhospitable region.

It argues that those years should be spent developing non-fossil fuels instead, to limit climate change - a claim shared by the League of Conservation Voters.

It is estimated that the whole Arctic region has 90 billion barrels of oil that is yet to be discovered, according to the Visual Capitalist.

The United States Geological Survey issued a summary report in 2009 of the Arctic areas they could assess, which estimated more than 50 million barrels of oil.

Challenge: The decision may be challenged in courts, or altered by Congress. Obama (seen in Alaska in 2015) hopes that America will instead pursue alternatives to fossil fuels

However, it's not a done deal yet.

The move could spend years being challenged in the courts.

And Congress, which is now under Republican control, could try to change it.

Such an attempt seems likely under the Trump administration, which has shown an active disregard for climate change science.

The provision - 12(a) - has previously been used by Presidents George HW Bush and Bill Clinton to temporarily block drilling in areas of the Outer Continental Shelf.

But there has never before been anything on this scale - or for an indefinite duration.

There are other factors that are limiting the waters' use in oil and gas production.

Low oil prices mean that drilling in Arctic waters - which are highly dangerous and can only be used for parts of the year - are prohibitively expensive at the moment.

That, the Obama administration says, makes this an ideal time to protect the area.