Seeking new prospects, ConocoPhillips Alaska plans to drill four exploration wells near Willow and conduct seismic exploration across 300 square miles south of Willow that could lead to future drilling. The project will employ several hundred people this winter.
Lawsuit seeks to stop ConocoPhillips’ big winter oil exploration plans in AlaskaAlex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News, December 11, 2025
An Alaska Native group and conservation groups filed a lawsuit Thursday to stop ConocoPhillips’ large winter exploration plans on the North Slope.
The Trump administration approved the plan last month in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic and other groups argue in the lawsuit that approval was done illegally, without conducting proper analysis to protect the tundra and wildlife such as caribou that families hunt for food, according to a prepared statement. They also say a one-week public input period was inadequately short.
ConocoPhillips said in a prepared statement that the lawsuit could hurt investment and jobs in Alaska.
“These actions by the same groups that have historically used legal maneuvers to delay exploration and development in the Petroleum Reserve jeopardize hundreds of local jobs and adds unnecessary risk to investment in Alaska,” the oil company said in a statement provided by spokesperson Dennis Nuss.
“We remain confident in the robustness of our plan and BLM’s permits and look forward to completing our work within Alaska’s limited winter exploration season,” Nuss said.
“Completing federal permitting for Alaska LNG ahead of schedule shows how the Trump administration is restoring America’s Energy Dominance by cutting unnecessary delays and unleashing our abundant resources,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.”
Alaska LNG completes federal permitting ahead of schedule
Elizabeth Corner, World Pipelines, December 12, 2025
On 11 December, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council announced the completion of federal permitting for the Alaska LNG project. The 20 million tpy LNG project will facilitate development of Alaska’s vast North Slope natural gas resources, providing Alaskans and its allies around the world with a long term and affordable energy source.
Alaska LNG first received FAST-41 coverage in 2017 and achieved initial federal approval in 2020. Project sponsor 8 Star Alaska, LLC, majority owned by Glenfarne, reactivated the project’s FAST-41 coverage in February 2025 for updated biological opinions and permit renewals. NOAA renewed the final permit, completing federal approvals for the project on 10 December.
“I am thrilled to see the Alaska LNG project finish federal permitting actions ahead of schedule,” said Permitting Council Executive Director Emily Domenech. “After delays during the previous Administration, Alaska LNG returned to FAST-41 coverage to help navigate the complexities of the federal permitting process. I’m particularly grateful to the agencies that continued work during the government shutdown, making it possible to complete this final milestone on time. This combined effort reflects our commitment to the State of Alaska and to achieving President Trump’s energy dominance agenda.”
“This confirmation is a watershed moment for American resource independence,” said Ionic MT founder and CEO Andre Zeitoun
IONIC MINERAL FINDS A TROVE OF CRITICAL MINERALS: Ionic Minerals Technology announced today that it has uncovered a substantial amount of critical minerals in Utah – possibly one of the most significant reserves in the country.
What did they find? Ionic MT said that it uncovered high-grade deposits of 16 different minerals at its Utah Silicon Ridge site, including lithium, alumina, germanium, rubidium, cesium, vanadium, niobium, and several rare earths.
Ionic MT told the Wall Street Journal that the company has been in talks with the Trump administration, which has expressed “clear enthusiasm about our work and its potential national impact.”
The discovery is a boost to the administration’s efforts to end China’s dominance of the global supply of critical minerals and rare earths, which it has used as leverage against the United States in trade talks.
At the same time, the administration has sought ways to grow the domestic industry of critical minerals and rare earths, and Ionic MT’s discovery could play a vital role in doing just that.
Key quote: “This confirmation is a watershed moment for American resource independence,” said Ionic MT founder and CEO Andre Zeitoun. “For the first time, we have a domestic, shovel-ready source for a full spectrum of critical minerals, all extractable with a faster, cleaner process than traditional hard rock mining and extraction.”
“With our mining permits and processing facility in place, we can now move rapidly to production, reducing a key strategic vulnerability for the United States,” he added.
Read more by Maydeen here.
From the Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy, December 11, 2025
Supremes Have Chance to End Climate Lawfare
All eyes will be on the Supreme Court later this week when the justices conference on Friday to decide whether to grant a petition for writ of certiorarion a high-stakes climate lawsuit out of Colorado. The case is a part of the long-running lawfare campaign seeking to extract billions of dollars in jury awards from oil companies on claims of nebulous damages caused by carbon emissions.
In Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc., et al. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, major American energy companies are asking the Supreme Court to decide whether federal law precludes state law nuisance claims targeting interstate and global emissions. This comes as the City and County of Boulder, Colo. sued a long list of energy companies under Colorado state nuisance law for alleged impacts from global climate change.
The Colorado Supreme Court allowed a lower state trial court decision to go through, improbably finding that federal law did not preempt state law claims. The central question hangs on whether the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) preempts state common law public nuisance claims related to the regulation of carbon emissions. In this case, as in at least 10 other cases that have been decided in favor of the defendant companies, the CAA clearly does preempt Colorado law. It seems inevitable that the Supreme Court, if it grants the cert petition, would make the same ruling.
From David Blackmon’s Energy Additions, December 12, 2025