The US oil and gas company ConocoPhillips has taken a final investment decision on its Willow oil drilling project, which is located in the National Petroleum Reserve of the US state of Alaska (NPR-A) and expected to produce 180 kb/d of oil at its peak (10.5 Mt/year). The project is projected to bring between US$8bn to US$17bn in revenue for the US federal government and the state of Alaska.
ConocoPhillips’ announcement follows the approval of the project by the US Department of Interior (DOI) in March 2023. The DOI however reduced the size of the project by denying two of the five drill sites proposed by ConocoPhillips, reducing the project’s drill pads by 40%. The company also had to relinquish rights to about 68,000 acres of its existing leases in the NPR-A, including 60,000 acres in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area.
In March 2023, the US government also announced steps to limit future industrial development in the NPR-A, notably the designation of approximately 2.8 million acres in the Arctic Ocean nearshore the NPR-A as indefinitely off limits for future oil and gas leasing.