The Biden administration in Washington backed a plan to drill new oil wells in Alaska. The move would issue a suitable permit for the American energy company ConocoPhillips to explore and develop deposits in the northwestern portion of the state, as reported by Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The review notes that the project carries an estimated price tag of about 8 billion dollars. On that basis, Alaska development would rank among the most costly resource ventures undertaken in this region by the United States in recent memory.
ConocoPhillips plans to drill at three sites within the Söğüt field. The company asserts that this effort could unlock roughly 600 million barrels of crude. It is projected to yield as much as 180,000 barrels per day, which would account for about 1.6 percent of current U.S. oil output. The report frames these figures as a potential game changer for domestic supply in the coming years.
At the same time, there are concerns about environmental impact. Advancing drilling in this part of Alaska could trigger substantial carbon emissions, with estimates approaching hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide. Environmental groups have criticized the plan as a step that could intensify climate damage in a sensitive Arctic region.
Critics argue that the drilling push runs counter to the administration’s stated clean energy transition. Environmental advocates have warned that expanding Arctic oil extraction could undermine climate goals and water, air, and wildlife protections in frontiers that are particularly vulnerable to disturbances.
In related political commentary, Senator Joe Manchin, who chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, highlighted the broader question of how American energy producers may influence European markets. He noted that nations possess the sovereign right to decide whether to allow certain exporters from Russia into their energy systems while stressing that the question of replacement reliability remains a strategic issue for many governments across the Atlantic basin.