Скачать или смотреть The huge new oil project in Alaska that is escaping national attention

Last year, environmentalists criticized the Biden Administration for approving a large oil drilling project on public land in the Alaskan Arctic called the Willow project.

However, a similar petroleum project has drawn little attention. About 30 miles east of Willow, Australian energy company Santos, Spanish company Repsol, and ASRC Energy, a subsidiary of the Alaska Native-owned Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), has received approvals and is currently building the first phase of the Pikka Project, an effort to produce hundreds of millions of barrels of oil over the next three decades. The project is located entirely on land owned by the State of Alaska and the ASRC.

During his first term, President Trump expanded federal lands in Alaska open for oil and gas drilling. President Biden then cancelled some leases and moved to restrict some areas in the Arctic open for energy exploration, although he also approved the massive Willow drilling project. During his second campaign, Trump promised to re-open even more Alaskan lands as part of his “Drill, Baby, Drill” agenda.

“The U.S. should unapologetically pursue American interests in the Arctic,” the Republican roadmap for Trump’s second term, Project 2025, says of drilling in Alaska. “…The region is estimated to contain 90 million barrels of oil and one-quarter of the world’s undiscovered natural gas reserves.”

The Pikka Project is slightly smaller than Willow, which ConocoPhillips says would produce up to 600 million barrels of oil over 30 years, with a peak of 180,000 barrels per day. Santos says Pikka will produce about 400 million barrels over 30 years, with a peak of 80,000 barrels per day.

Santos originally planned to produce oil on 77,744 acres but earlier this year announced a 19,664-acre expansion, bringing the total to 97,408 acres, about 152 square miles – roughly the size of Denver. Phase I of the project has been approved and is under construction, and major approvals have been secured for the second phase of the project.

Read the full story at new.oilandgaswatch.org