(Oil Price) – The development of oil projects in Alaska’s North Slope and Arctic is boosting jobs growth in these areas more than the average for the state, according to the latest figures by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Job numbers jumped by 7% in the North Slope and Northwest Arctic regions last year, compared to broadly flat job numbers for the state of Alaska.
In Alaska’s north, ConocoPhillips is developing the Willow oil project, which was approved by the Biden Administration in 2023. The $8-billion project is expected to see peak production of 160,000 barrels of oil per day, beginning in 2029, according to 2020 estimates but since then, this has been revised up to a maximum of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Australia-based Santos, for its part, is developing the Pikka project in the North Slope, with first oil expected next year. The pipeline for the Pikka project is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
Santos has said about 80% of the workforce working on the Pikka project was hired from within the state of Alaska.
Apart from direct oil and gas jobs, the project developments are leading to jobs growth in other related industries, Dan Robinson, a researcher with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, told Alaska Public Media.
The Trump Administration is looking to boost oil and gas exploration and production in Alaska. Last month, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said that the Bureau of Land Management would pursue steps to expand opportunities for exploration and development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The U.S. Administration and the state of Alaska are also courting investors from north Asia to invest in and commit to offtake deals for the planned $44-billion Alaska LNG export project.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
