The Interior Department finalized its environmental review for ConocoPhillips’ Willow project Wednesday, laying the groundwork for approval next month of what would be the nation’s largest oil development on public lands.
Interior’s supplemental environmental impact statement included a preferred alternative that would give developers up to three drill sites in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a vast stretch of oil-rich land on the state’s North Slope. ConocoPhillips’ development plan sought to set up five drill sites.
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ConocoPhillips seeks ultimate approval of no less than three drill sites, maintaining that any fewer makes the project uneconomical, according to a source familiar with the company’s thinking.
Interior stressed that its supplemental environmental impact statement is not a final decision, saying that it has “substantial concerns about the Willow project” and the preferred alternative relating to its prospective direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and effects on wildlife and Alaska Native subsistence.
A record of decision, the final step of the process, could be announced as soon as early March.
Willow is a politically difficult project for the administration, which sought early on to restrict new oil and gas development on federal lands to fight climate change but has been effectively forced to carry forward with new leasing due to court decisions and new mandates passed in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Environmental groups quickly jumped on the department Wednesday for identifying a preferred alternative that would provide for development and criticized its analysis.
“ConocoPhillips’ Willow project represents a massive step backward on the path to achieving the president’s climate and environmental justice goals,” said Mattea Mrkusic, a policy lead at environmental NGO Evergreen Action.
Proponents of the project, including Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), praised the review for advancing the project.
“Responsibly investing in and utilizing the abundance of natural resources on our federal lands and waters is critical to ensuring we are able to power our nation and support our allies around the globe,” Manchin said.
ConocoPhillips’ Willow project has been years in the making. The company won its first leases to develop the Willow area back in 1999, although it waited until 2018 to begin the development and permitting process.
The project, as proposed, is estimated to be able to produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day. Alaska currently produces around 450,000 bpd, according to the latest production data from the Energy Information Administration.
President Joe Biden entered office having promised to restrict oil and gas development on federal lands and in federal waters. His administration has carried out just a handful of new lease sales, leasing new lands at a much slower pace than predecessors.
The administration has been planning more lease sales since Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ green energy and healthcare spending bill. Manchin, a key negotiator for the bill, ensured the inclusion of language that pushed the administration to lease new lands regularly by tying development of renewable energy on federal lands to new oil and gas leasing.
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The Biden administration has utilized other routes to limit oil and gas development in Alaska while leasing has been advanced elsewhere. The Bureau of Land Management restricted the total acreage in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska that can be opened for development.
Interior’s Willow announcement follows other recent decisions to restrict resource development in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to prolific salmon fisheries, and the Tongass National Forest.
