Written comments on Willow drilling and injection rules are due Tuesday unless a Nov. 4 hearing is held

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is taking written comments until 4:30 pm Tuesday, Oct. 6, on the drilling and injection rules ConocoPhillips has asked for at its Willow project. If the commission holds a hearing Nov. 4, comments will be accepted through the end of that hearing.

Willow is ConocoPhillips' oil project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The federal government approved a scaled-back version with three drill sites in March 2023, and the company estimates it will produce about 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak. ConocoPhillips reaffirmed in an Aug. 6 earnings call that it expects first oil in early 2029. The rules now before the state would govern how the field is drilled and produced.

ConocoPhillips made two requests as operator of the Bear Tooth Unit, in applications dated Aug. 20, according to the commission's notice.

The first asks for a conservation order establishing pool rules for the proposed Willow Oil Pool. The commission prescribes pool rules "when a modification of a statewide regulation is needed to facilitate development of the pool." The notice says common examples include streamlining drilling permit applications and changing data collection requirements when more data wouldn't add to the understanding of the area's geology. It doesn't list which rules ConocoPhillips wants changed.

The second asks for an area injection order, which approves injection across multiple wells over a wide area rather than in a single well or a limited part of a pool. ConocoPhillips is seeking it for enhanced oil recovery, which aims to increase how much oil can be recovered from a pool, and for temporary storage of fluids produced during early well cleanup, before the project's permanent production facilities are installed and commissioned.

The commission regulates drilling and production. Its website says it doesn't decide whether to develop state-owned resources and can't deny a drilling permit over land-use concerns. Its aim is to prevent waste, protect groundwater and protect each owner's right to its share of the oil. For injection, it must check that wells are mechanically sound, that rock above the injection zone will hold fluids in place and that freshwater aquifers are protected. Its website says it oversees about 1,400 enhanced oil recovery wells statewide.

The commission tentatively scheduled the hearing for 10 am Nov. 4 in its hearing room at 333 W. Seventh Ave. in Anchorage, with call-in and video options. The deadline to request it passed Sept. 22, and the commission's events calendar now lists the hearing.