FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Date: March 18, 2026 
Contact: Anja Semanco | 724-967-2777 | anja@alaskawild.org 

Oil Corporations Rush to Lock Up Western Arctic Lands in Lease Sale 

Alaska Wilderness League condemns today’s NPR-A lease sale as reckless expansion of fossil fuel extraction in one of the world’s most ecologically vital landscapes 

ANCHORAGE, AK — Today, the Bureau of Land Management held the first oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (Western Arctic) since 2019, offering up millions of acres of Western Arctic public lands to fossil fuel corporations. Companies submitted about 430 bids across more than 1.3 million acres—land that belongs to all Americans, that sustains Indigenous communities and wildlife, and that the planet cannot afford to sacrifice to the fossil fuel industry’s bottom line. 

Alaska Wilderness League condemns this lease sale in the strongest possible terms. Today’s sale represents a dangerous step backward driven not by public interest, but by the relentless pursuit of corporate profit. 

“Congratulations to the oil companies who showed up today to bid on our shared Arctic heritage. You got a dirty deal. The rest of us—and every generation that comes after us—got the bill,” said Kristen Miller, executive director at Alaska Wilderness League. “The Western Arctic is not a commodity, it is one of the last truly wild places on Earth, home to millions of migrating birds, vast caribou herds, and Indigenous communities whose lives are woven into this land. We will spend every ounce of our energy making sure those leases never become drill pads.” 

Who Showed Up & What They’re After 

ConocoPhillips: Already the dominant industrial presence in the Western Arctic with nearly 1 million acres under lease, bid on parcels immediately adjacent to the Willow project—including lands the company itself relinquished as part of the Willow project approval in 2024. That ConocoPhillips is now seeking to reclaim those very acres makes clear it has no intention of honoring the “smaller footprint” commitment it made when the project was approved. The company made headlines after a recent drilling rig they had under contract collapsed and caught fire outside the NPR-A boundary, and for their pursuit of a controversial drill site just two miles from the community of Nuiqsut. ConocoPhillips’ continued appetite for Western Arctic expansion should alarm anyone paying attention to what unchecked development looks like. 

Repsol, partnering with Shell: The single biggest spender in today’s sale, submitting over $91 million in bids. Repsol is a joint operator behind the Pikka oil development on the Colville River, just seven miles from the community of Nuiqsut—scheduled to begin production this spring—and already holds leases straddling the NPR-A boundary. Today’s spending signals aggressive expansion ambitions across Alaska’s North Slope. 

ExxonMobil: Bid on numerous tracts on the shores of Teshekpuk Lake, including areas that fall within the Nuiqsut Trilateral Conservation Right-of-Way. ExxonMobil’s participation in this sale—targeting some of the most ecologically sensitive and legally contested lands in the Arctic—underscores the recklessness of today’s proceedings. 

Armstrong Oil and Gas, operating as North Slope Exploration LLC: Won bids on over 70 tracts, spending approximately $22 million. Armstrong, a Denver-based private company, already controls nearly 1 million acres in the NPR-A from the 2019 lease sale, and today’s acquisitions represent a dramatic deepening of its footprint in the Western Arctic. 

Other Bidders: Two companies, including EPOCH Oil and Gas, bid on tracts north of Teshekpuk Lake—areas that haven’t been offered in sales in part due to their extraordinary ecological sensitivity and importance for wildlife. These tracts also fall within the Nuiqsut Trilateral Conservation Right-of-Way, making these bids not just ecologically alarming but legally questionable. 

Court Ruling Throws Into Question Bids Announced Today 

Today’s bid opening webinar did not even acknowledge a court order issued just days ago, which reinstated a right-of-way that prohibits oil and gas leasing in areas offered today. On Monday, the Alaska District Court reinstated the Nuiqsut Trilateral Conservation Right-of-Way pending full case consideration, which protects approximately one million acres around Teshekpuk Lake and prohibits leasing in this area without the consent of the Nuiqsut Tribe, Kuukpik Corporation, and the City of Nuiqsut. Despite this, BLM proceeded with announcing bids for lands within the Right-of-Way without so much as acknowledging the court’s decision during the live webinar. 

The Trump administration’s 2025 cancellation of the Trilateral Conservation Easement is currently being challenged in court. Leasing these parcels before that litigation is resolved compounds the legal and moral recklessness of today’s sale. 

What is at Stake 

The NPR-A is not a sacrifice zone. It is 23 million acres of living Arctic landscape—home to the Western Arctic caribou herd, one of the largest land mammal migrations on Earth; to millions of migratory birds that breed in its wetlands and disperse across the continent; and to polar bears, wolves, wolverines, and a web of life that has evolved over millennia. 

Teshekpuk Lake, in particular, demands special attention. Some of the tracts offered today, including parcels within the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, have not been offered in any lease sale since 1999. These are among the most ecologically sensitive lands in the entire Arctic—critical habitat for molting geese and calving caribou. 

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Photo Credit: Yuyan Qupaluk