The Biden administration is confusing the public about its intentions regarding a massive ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. oil drilling project that could produce up to 629 million barrels of oil, natural resources lawyers say.
The administration didn’t pick its preference among five alternatives for the Willow Master Development Plan in an environmental review of the project under the National Environmental Policy Act issued July 8 by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.
The alternatives range from no drilling to full development of the project, which would produce oil in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the state’s North Slope over about ...