Published: August 17, 2020 |

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The Trump administration on Friday approved U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips’ plan to drill in the Alaska National Oil Preserve, a wilderness area along the North Slope oil fields.

The Bureau of Land Management has issued a final environmental impact statement for the company’s Willow Project, which the agency says could produce more than 160,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d) over the next 30 years . If built, Willow will be the westernmost development on the North Slope.

The project could help offset declines in oil production in the state, according to the BLM. Alaska’s oil production has fallen to 404,000 b/d from its peak of over 2 million b/d in 1988.

ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s largest oil producer by volume, pumped 218,000 bpd of oil and gas into the state during the first quarter. It cut production and spending in Alaska earlier this year and last month said it would reinstate some of the reduced production.

A spokesperson was not available to comment on the company’s schedule for the project.

“It provides more throughput in the Trans Alaska pipeline system, ultimately providing more jobs for Alaskans and creating more revenue for the state,” BLM Alaska State Director Chad Padgett said in a statement.

ConocoPhillips is part of a consortium that owns and operates the 800-mile (1,287-km) Trans Alaska Pipeline that transports oil from Prudhoe Bay to the North Slope of Alaska, where most of the state’s oil production is concentrated, south of the port of Valdez.

The plan outlined in the final environmental impact statement allows up to five drilling sites and support facilities, including roads and pipelines, to access the leased site.

Source: Reuters

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