Power in Cooperation – ConocoPhillips

Billions in revenue
~2,500 Construction jobs
300 Permanent jobs

ConocoPhillips welcomes the Department of the Interior’s recent Record of Decision (ROD) on the Willow project, adopting the three core pads detailed in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) preferred Alternative E. Willow is important for both Alaska’s economy and America’s energy security.

Located on Alaska’s North Slope in the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A), the Willow project is estimated to produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak, decreasing American dependence on foreign energy supplies. The project is projected to deliver $8 billion to $17 billion in new revenue for the federal government, the state of Alaska and North Slope Borough communities. Willow will be built using materials primarily made and sourced in the U.S. and has the potential to create over 2,500 construction jobs and approximately 300 long-term jobs. The project is designed to support and coexist with subsistence activities with many mitigation measures built into the project design.

Learn more about the benefits of Willow

Read what others are saying

What Alaskans Are Saying

“We write to make things clear: the majority consensus on the North Slope supports the Willow Project.”

– Nagruk Harcharek, President, The Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat

“Kuukpik is the Alaska Native village corporation for Nuiqsut, the community closest to the Willow Project. As the local village corporation, Kuukpik’s twin goals are protecting the subsistence lifestyle and culture of the Native residents of Nuiqsut while also providing for the long-term economic needs of our shareholders….After years of discussion and changes to the Project, Kuukpik supports the Willow Project as described in Alternative E because it strikes an appropriate balance between the need to develop oil and gas resources and ensuring that Nuiqsut residents can continue to practice subsistence for generations to come.”

– Joe Nukapigak, President, Kuukpik Corporation

“ICAS, the Borough and ASRC support the development of the Willow Project. While initially wary of any development on our lands, through open communication and transparency in planning and Iñupiat ingenuity, our relationship with the oil and gas industry has turned into a partnership. A partnership that has brought significant economic benefits to the region that would have otherwise been absent.”

– George Edwardson, President Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS) and Harry Brower Jr., Mayor North Slope Borough (NSB), and Rex Rock Sr., President of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC)

“The Willow Project is a critical opportunity for the U.S. to expand domestic energy supplies and security while creating economic opportunities to help Alaska recover from the pandemic.”

– Julie Kitka, President Alaska Federation of Natives

“Resource development and traditional lifestyles are not mutually exclusive. In fact, it is the very existence of viable village communities that allows North Slope and Alaska Native residents to enjoy a healthy subsistence lifestyle.”

– Kim Reitmeier, President ANSCA Regional Association

“The requested extension would provide no additional benefit in terms of informed environmental review for the project and would serve no purpose other than attempting to delay the project beyond the point of economic feasibility to the detriment of the Alaska Native people who call this region home.”

– Morrie Lemen, Executive Director Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS) and Mayor Harry Brower Jr., Mayor North Slope Borough (NSB), and Rex Rock Sr., President of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC)

“The Willow Project has passed every environmental and community test put before it….Delaying it any further will only bring more harm to our state.”

– Hallie Bissett, Executive Director Alaska Native Village Corporation Association and Kim Reitmeier, President ANSCA Regional Association

“Alaska’s oil and gas industry provides much-needed jobs for our people, tax revenue to support our schools and health clinics, and support for basic public services like water treatment in our communities.”

– George Edwardson, President Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope

“The current plan for Willow was created following a years-long environmental review process that includes and reflects significant input from local communities.”

– Mayor Harry Brower, Jr., Mayor North Slope Borough

Willow’s History

Project planning spanned five presidential administrations. ConocoPhillips acquired the first Willow area leases in 1999, during the Clinton administration, and began the development permitting process in 2018. Since then, the project has undergone nearly five years of rigorous regulatory review and environmental analysis, including extensive baseline scientific studies.

The Willow project complies with the 2022 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) Integrated Activity Plan (IAP), which was developed under the Obama-Biden administration. The IAP defines what acreage is available in NPR-A for oil and gas leasing and the stipulations attached to development.

The three core pads of Alternative E, approved in the March 2023 Record of Decision, represents a reduction in surface infrastructure and associated impacts, addresses stakeholder comments and enables a practical way forward for the project.

There was extensive public involvement in the Willow project, including more than 215 days of public comment and 25 in-person public meetings in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nuiqsut, Utqiagvik, Atqasuk, and Anaktuvuk Pass.

1999

ConocoPhillips acquired the first Willow area leases
2018

Began the development permitting process
2022

ConocoPhillips reliably meets all applicable environmental mandates
2023

The three pad Willow project is approved

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

3.9B in federal royalty income tax and travel sales. 1.2B North Slope Borough revenue from property tax. 2.3B NPR-A impact migration grant funds returned to state. 1.3B state of alaska revenue from production, property, and income taxes.

¹Tax revenue assumptions based on Alaska Department of Revenue Fall 2021 Revenue Source Book ($60.66 per barrel average real ANS price).

²Represents 50% of federal royalty, the remaining 50% shown under NPR-A impact Mitigation grant funds.

JOBS CREATED

- ~2,500
  
  Construction jobs
- ~300
  
  Long-term jobs
- ~75%
  
  of the anticipated total North Slope installation manhours will use union labor.
- 9MM
  
  The project will require approximately 9 million manhours.

RESOURCES PRODUCED

Peak production

~180,000

Barrels of oil per day
Peak production

~600MM

Cumulative barrels of recoverable oil

Willow Project

Advancing Alaska’s Economic and Energy Future

What Alaskans Are Saying

Willow’s History

Quick Facts about the Willow Project

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

JOBS CREATED

~2,500

~300

~75%

9MM

RESOURCES PRODUCED

~180,000

~600MM