Judge Denies Request to Halt ConocoPhillips Winter Exploration in NPRA

A federal judge has cleared the way for ConocoPhillips Alaska to continue a winter exploration program in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA) near Nuiqsut while a legal challenge proceeds, a decision with immediate implications for subsistence users and leaseholders on the North Slope. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason denied a preliminary injunction request on Jan. 27, 2026, finding the plaintiffs had not shown they have a “fair chance of success” on the merits and noting the agency’s analysis highlighted planned mitigation measures.

The lawsuit, filed in December by Earthjustice on behalf of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Wilderness Society, challenges Bureau of Land Management and Department of the Interior approval of the program. Alaska Dispatch News reports the complaint names top agency officials, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. ConocoPhillips Alaska intervened in the case in support of the government, and the company welcomed the ruling as confirmation that the Bureau of Land Management’s review met legal requirements.

ConocoPhillips has said the winter work is tied to an effort to expand the Willow development and to explore for additional oil near Nuiqsut. In a December court filing, Brandi Sellepack, manager of exploration for ConocoPhillips Alaska, said the company had invested “tens of millions of dollars” that “cannot be recovered” if the program were blocked for the winter and emphasized that exploration is necessary to determine whether future investment in leases is warranted. Sellepack noted leases run for a 10-year period and that exploration and construction in the reserve are constrained by remoteness and short winter seasons.

The operational picture includes a recent transportation incident that has heightened local worry. Multiple reports say a mobile drilling rig toppled while being transported en route to the project site in the week immediately preceding the ruling and landed on snow-covered tundra near existing oil and gas infrastructure. ConocoPhillips attorneys told the court the incident would not deter ConocoPhillips Alaska’s overall plans and that a substitute drill rig would be used. Plaintiffs’ counsel Ian Dooley called it “remarkable” that the Bureau of Land Management had not on its own halted the project to determine the cause of last week’s rig collapse. A source identified only as Simmonds warned, “Incidents like this show how quickly risks on the land become risks for the people who rely on it,” and added, “Our safety, our food sources, and the places we depend on deserve more than rushed approvals and delayed explanations.”

For residents of Nuiqsut and other North Slope communities, the ruling leaves in place competing pressures: the company’s stated need to preserve lease rights and protect investments versus concerns about damage to caribou, birds and other wildlife that underpin subsistence harvests. Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, framed the choice in national terms: “Now, more than ever, America’s natural resource development needs to be prioritized to enhance our nation’s energy security.” The immediate market implication is that ConocoPhillips can continue collecting data this winter that will inform whether to invest further in development; the longer-term question of whether approvals were lawful remains tied up in court.

The case will proceed on the merits, and plaintiffs have signaled they will continue their challenge. For local residents, the next developments to watch include any BLM action related to the rig collapse investigation, filings in the merits phase of the lawsuit, and whether the court ultimately alters the balance between lease preservation and protections for subsistence resources.