NorthAmOil: Judge rejects legal challenge to ConocoPhillips’ Willow

A federal judge has ruled that ConocoPhillips’ vast Willow oil project on the North Slope of Alaska can proceed.

US District Court Judge Sharon Gleason on November 9 denied attempts by environmental and conservation groups, who were arguing that the Biden administration’s decision to approve the ConocoPhillips project in the Arctic was flawed.

In April Gleason had denied a request for an injunction against the project, thus allowing ConocoPhillips to proceed with road construction for what was left of the winter construction season.

In her latest ruling, Gleason found the Biden administration’s controversial decision in government’s analysis was legal, via-a-vis environmental laws and with goals the US Congress established for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), in north-western Alaska’s Arctic.

“ConocoPhillips, as the lessee, has the right and the responsibility to fully develop its oil and gas leases in the NPR-A subject to reasonable restrictions and mitigation measures imposed by the federal government,” Gleason wrote. Her decision can be appealed.