The controversial $8 billion (£6 billion) drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope has been approved by The Biden administration.
The ConocoPhillips Willow project will be one of the largest of its kind on US soil, involving drilling for oil and gas at three sites for multiple decades on the 23 million acre National Petroleum Reserve.
The site is is owned by the federal government and is the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the US.
It will produce an estimated 576m barrels of oil over 30 years, with a peak of 180,000 barrels of crude a day.
In its decision, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management said that the approval “strikes a balance” by allowing ConocoPhillips to use its longstanding leases in the Arctic while also limiting drilling to three sites rather than five, which the company wanted.
However, the approval has been met with outrage among environmental campaigners and Native representatives who say it fatally undermines Joe Biden’s climate agenda. In all, the project is expected to create about 260 million tons of greenhouse gases over its lifespan, the equivalent of creating about 70 new coal-fired power plants.
“Approving the Willow Project is an unacceptable departure from President Biden’s promises to the American people on climate and environmental justice,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, a climate group.
Controversial oil and gas project in Alaska approved
