ConocoPhillips Permit Application Moves Forward on Agency Agreement; Murkowski Says Road and Bridge Could Spur Development in NPR-A

Reuters reported today that the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have reached an agreement with ConocoPhillips to construct a road and bridge over the Colville River to reach the company's Alpine Unit. The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to complete its review of the permit application in the next few weeks. ConocoPhillips has agreed to let other companies use the facilities, which Alaska's Senator Lisa Murkowski said in a press release that the decision could open the NPR-A, with an estimated 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil, to exploration and production. The Department of the Interior will hold a lease sale in the NPR-A on December 7.