Biden Alaska Oil Plan Seen as Threat to Future Drilling

 

• Tighter rules risk viability of projects, ConocoPhillips warns
• Proposal would impact even existing leases, industry fears

A century after the US set aside a broad swath of northwest Alaska to be used as an emergency oil supply, the Biden administration is pursuing changes that could make it impossible to harvest crude from new leases in the 23 million-acre site.

The proposal for managing the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska has alarmed oil industry advocates who say it would thwart development in a crude-rich region the size of Indiana. Alaska’s congressional delegation said the Biden administration is “suddenly and dramatically reinterpreting the law so that it can treat 13.1 million acres” of the reserve “as de facto federal wilderness.” And a top ConocoPhillips Co. executive says the changes stoke uncertainty about future oil projects and infrastructure across the region.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-30/biden-alaska-oil-plan-seen-as-major-threat-to-future-drilling