Biden limits arctic drilling ahead of Willow decision

President Joe Biden has expanded an oil and gas leasing ban in arctic waters off Alaska ahead of a decision on whether to approve ConocoPhillips' massive $8bn Willow drilling project.

The leasing ban — covering 2.8mn (11,000km²) acres in the Beaufort Sea — has raised expectations that the Biden administration will give the go-ahead to the Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). If approved, the Willow project is expected to reach peak production of 180,000 b/d.

Environmentalists support the leasing ban but say it is not an acceptable trade-off for authorizing the Willow project. The benefits of further protections in the Beaufort Sea would be "undone" by approving new drilling on public land, since "no proposal poses a bigger threat to lands, wildlife, communities and our climate than ConocoPhillips' Willow project," Sierra Club lands protection program director Athan Manuel said.

The US Bureau of Land Management has estimated the project, if approved could cause climate-related damage of $1.5bn-$18bn over 30 years.

It also would generate a projected $9bn in royalties and taxes, while sustaining oil flows on the Trans-Alaska pipeline that is now operating at about a fifth of its peak 2mn b/d throughput in the 1980s.

ConocoPhillips did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Former president Barack Obama in 2016 used his authority under existing law to withdraw 115mn acres of arctic waters from oil and gas leasing, a prohibition that at the time covered all of the Chukchi Sea and the majority of the Beaufort Sea. A federal judge later upheld the withdrawal, which could be withdrawn by an act of Congress.

Biden's withdrawal uses the same authority to cover the final 2.8mn acres in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska's north coast. The administration said the withdrawal will ensure the area is "indefinitely off-limits" from oil and gas leasing, while also guarding against the potential that drilling in the Beaufort Sea would seek to tie into pipeline infrastructure in the NPR-A.

The US Interior Department also said it is drafting regulations to provide "maximum protection" for ecologically sensitive areas in the NPR-A, such as the Teshekpuk Lake that is home to thousands of migratory birds. The administration said it intends to propose to limit oil and gas leasing near the lake and other sensitive areas in NPR-A.

By Chris Knight