ConocoPhillips Stock In Focus As It Seeks US Approval To Find More Oil In Alaska

ConocoPhillips (COP) has reportedly sought permission from federal regulators to drill more oil well sites and conduct seismic surveys to detect oil and gas deposits in Alaska, near the company’s upcoming $7.5 billion Willow project.

According to a Bloomberg News report, ConocoPhillips plans to drill wells within the sprawling 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, which was established decades ago to produce energy.

If approved, it would be ConocoPhillips’ largest exploration campaign since 2020, the report added. The proposed wells include three near the company’s Bear Tooth Unit site, with one about 11 miles from Willow. The company will also drill a fourth well, further east, at its Greater Mooses Tooth Unit site.

If the company’s three western wells lead to commercial discoveries and ConocoPhillips moves to develop the finds, the oil would be directed to a processing facility currently being built as part of the Willow project.

“As we look out in the future, that’s an investment we want to keep full,” Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, told Bloomberg in an interview. He added that it’s a matter of “going out and exploring now to ensure that we continue to have this pipeline of opportunities that we’re looking at to backfill our infrastructure in the future.”

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about ConocoPhillips was in the ‘bearish’ territory. The proposed projects could help it replace some of its aging wells in the Permian Basin.

The report stated that once the Bureau of Land Management approved the company’s plan, the drilling campaign would run from November to the beginning of May. ConocoPhillips will likely deploy about 750 people, and it typically spends between $1 billion and $1.2 billion in Alaska for new capital development, wells, and drilling pads.

The move by ConocoPhillips was consistent with the policies of the Trump administration, which has prioritized boosting fossil fuel production, marking a shift from the Biden-era rules. Last month, the U.S. Department of Interior proposed to open up 82% of the nature reserve.

ConocoPhillips stock has fallen 5.8% this year.

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