Conoco Permit Clears Way for Alaska Petroleum Reserve Output

ConocoPhillips, the largest oil and natural-gas producer in Alaska, got a permit that clears the way for the first production from the National Petroleum Reserve, an area that may hold 1 billion barrels of crude.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit means ConocoPhillips can make a decision on whether to proceed with the project next year, Natalie Lowman, a spokeswoman for the Houston-based company, said in an e-mail yesterday. The CD5 project, in which Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is a partner, will cost more than $600 million and may produce as many as 18,000 barrels a day when output begins in late 2015, she said.