The administration of US President Donald Trump plans to simplify the procedure for issuing oil drilling permits within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
Details
The US Department of the Interior is proposing a new approval system for oil projects and related infrastructure that would allow individual applications to be reviewed in approximately 30 days. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated that this would help increase production faster and lower energy prices.
"The faster we can increase the speed of these rules, the faster we can lower prices for America,"
The initiative is expected to benefit ConocoPhillips, Santos Ltd., Repsol SA, and other operators working in the region. Specifically, it concerns accelerating the approval of the large-scale Willow project, which previously sparked protests from environmental organizations due to risks to the Arctic environment.
The Trump administration is betting on production growth
The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska covers about 9.3 million hectares and, according to US government estimates, contains approximately 8.8 billion barrels of oil.
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Against the backdrop of the war surrounding Iran and supply issues through the Strait of Hormuz, the White House is calling on American companies to ramp up production. Trump has also spoken about increasing US oil exports and the possibility of increasing supplies to China.
At the same time, environmental organizations have already criticized the administration's plans. They warn that the accelerated procedure could weaken environmental oversight of energy projects in the Arctic and pose risks to wildlife and the region's indigenous peoples.
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