ConocoPhillips flies to Carlsbad the week of Willow project progress

ConocoPhillips flew from Midland, Texas, to Carlsbad, New Mexico, on May 13, a 23-minute hop aboard its Embraer ERJ-145XR (N284CP) that touched down at Cavern City Air Terminal just after 2:14 p.m. local time. The short flight from the Permian Basin hub to the southeastern New Mexico airfield comes amid a busy stretch of shuttles between Houston and Midland, where the company's Lower 48 operations anchor production at 1.45 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The same week, ConocoPhillips highlighted significant progress on its $9 billion Willow project in Alaska, which is now roughly 50% complete after the winter construction season, per the company's first-quarter earnings call on April 30. The Willow development, on track to produce oil in early 2029, is expected to generate an additional $4 billion in annual free cash flow once online, as reported by Petroleum News. The Carlsbad area sits near the Delaware Basin, a key part of ConocoPhillips' Permian strategy where the company has been drilling longer lateral wells to improve capital efficiency.

ConocoPhillips has been a frequent visitor to Midland this week, with flights from Houston on May 11 and May 12, and a round-trip to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on May 12 — the former home of Phillips 66 before the 2012 spin-off. The company's first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.89 per share beat analyst estimates, and it declared a second-quarter dividend of $0.84 per share, payable June 1.