New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Major new oil developments for the US – what about the renewables alternative?
3/5/2023
8 min read
Feature
US President Joe Biden’s controversial approval of the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska marks the latest confusion in the fossil fuels versus renewables debate. So, where do US energy developers stand when it comes to tackling climate change? New Energy World’s Brian Davis reports.
Environmentalists and many others committed to the energy transition were up in arms at the Biden Administration’s approval in March 2023 of the controversial $8bn (£6bn) drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope. The decision drew fierce opposition from environmentalists and Native Alaskan communities, as well as other vocal parties round the world, who argued that it will accelerate climate change and undermine food security.
The ConocoPhillips Willow project is estimated to be one of the largest of its kind in the US, involving drilling for oil and gas at three sites for a few decades on the 8mn-hectare National Petroleum Reserve, which is owned by the Federal government and is ‘the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the US’, according to The Guardian.
Strategically, these fields are estimated to be able to produce up to 576mn barrels of oil over 30 years, with a peak of 180,000 b/d, as an extension of the Alpine field, which is currently producing about 37,000 b/d of oil.