The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released an updated environmental review of a major oil drilling project in the North Slope of Alaska.
The draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) of ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.'s Willow project details multiple alternatives for the project after a judge reversed government approval last year. ConocoPhillips said in a statement the proposed $8 billion project would produce 450-800 million barrels of oil and create more than 2,000 construction jobs and 300 long term jobs.
The draft SEIS explores five options for the development, including a "No Action Alternative" where the project would not be constructed. The other options include ConocoPhillips original proposal and scaled-back versions that aim to lessen the impact on surrounding wildlife.
One alternative in the draft proposes the removal of two of the five drill sites, reducing the overall size of the project and its impact on caribou in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area (TSLA).
"The draft SEIS also includes a new alternative that would reduce the potential footprint of the proposed Willow Project by removing two of the five proposed drill sites from consideration, including eliminating the northernmost proposed drill site and associated infrastructure in the TLSA," the BLM said in a press release.
"ConocoPhillips has been discovering and developing Alaska's North Slope oil resources since 1965, and the Willow project in the northeast portion of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) is the company’s most recent major development project," according to a release from the company.
The BLM will accept comments from the public for 45 days, which will be considered when developing the final plan for the project.
