Alaska Delegation Welcomes Federal Approval for Willow Master Development Plan
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Don Young, all R-Alaska, today issued the following statements after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Record of Decision for the Willow Master Development Plan in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).
“As we navigate these uncertain times, the federal approval of a major new North Slope development project provides real opportunities for Alaska and a path forward to help rebuild and strengthen our economy for years to come,” said Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Willow could put hundreds of Alaskans back to work, boost state revenues, and generate more than 160,000 barrels of daily throughput for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. I thank the BLM team for their work to complete this comprehensive review, and appreciate ConocoPhillips’ efforts to address community concerns in their project design.”
“With this important Record of Decision completed, the NRP-A is slated to be among the hottest energy prospects in the world,” said Sullivan. “The Willow project alone will be massive and bring to our state hundreds of good-paying jobs for hard-working Alaskans, more than one hundred thousand barrels a day in TAPS throughput, and billions of dollars in economic activity—without negatively impacting the environment Alaskans cherish. We as a delegation have fought hard with the administration against those in the Lower 48 who want to shut Alaska’s economy down, and I have every intention of protecting what we’ve earned. I thank the Department of Interior for their work on this important project.”
“The Willow project represents immense potential for our state, and this ROD comes at a critical time,” said Young. “The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our economy. We must continue making progress on projects like Willow that could bring good-paying jobs, significant revenue, and the resources we need to make America energy independent. This milestone is an important one, not only for Alaska but for the countless families who depend on the oil and gas industry to make a living. I am grateful to everyone at BLM, who helped deliver today's ROD. I also want to thank ConocoPhillips for making crucial investments in our state, workforce, and economy. I look forward to our continued progress on this critical project.”
The Willow project is a multi-billion dollar development proposed by ConocoPhillips in the NPR-A. It is located to the west of the Greater Mooses Tooth-1 and Greater Mooses Tooth-2 developments.
The NPR-A is administered by BLM and covers more than 23 million acres on the western North Slope of Alaska—an area roughly the size of Indiana. In 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that NPR-A contains an estimated 8.7 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil.
Read the Alaska delegation’s prior letters to the Department of the Interior about the importance of the project here and here.
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