Alaska’s tentative upstream revival

The war in Ukraine has given new impetus to oil and gas projects in the US’ most northerly state, but two proposed LNG projects may still struggle to reach FID

The Alaskan oil and gas industry has seen a minor revival since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 rekindled energy security concerns among major oil- and gas-importing countries around the world. In August 2022, Australian independent Santos and Spain’s Repsol sanctioned the $2.6b first phase of its Pikka project on Alaskan state-controlled land—marking the first 350m+ boe field to achieve FID in the state since 2000. And after missing three winter construction seasons due to lawsuits filed by conservation groups against its original federal regulatory approval, US superindie ConocoPhillips appears near to reaching FID on its $8b Willow oil project in the federally controlled Nation