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(Reuters) – Crude oil production from Alaska is forecast to reach 477,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2026, the highest since 2018, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook on Wednesday.
The EIA said Alaska oil production is expected to rise 13%, or 55,000 bpd, marking the largest annual increase since the 1980s. The growth is being driven by two projects on the North Slope.
ConocoPhillips’ Nuna project, which began production in December 2024, is expected to reach 20,000 bpd at its peak, while Santos and Repsol’s Pikka Phase 1, starting in early 2026, could reach 80,000 bpd by mid-2026, representing nearly 20% of total Alaska oil production in 2025, the agency said.
The EIA said wells from these projects are outperforming most Alaskan wells. According to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, new wells average about 480 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) on average, whereas 78% of Alaskan wells produced less than 400 boed in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration last week finalized its rollback of Biden-era limits on oil and gas drilling in an Alaska area that is the nation’s largest tract of undisturbed public land.
Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru Editing by Frances Kerry
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