Ninth Circuit Rules Alaska Can Release ConocoPhillips Well Data From Federal Reserve
Why It Matters
The ruling has significant implications for Alaska’s energy sector and the state’s ability to govern oil and gas exploration data within its borders. The decision reinforces state authority over publicly disclosing well data from one of the most actively developed energy regions in North America.
What Happened
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Alaska holds the authority to publicly release exploration well data gathered by ConocoPhillips inside the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska — a vast federal territory on the state’s North Slope.
The ruling reverses a March 2023 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason, who had found that federal law implicitly shielded the well data from public disclosure, despite state statutes requiring release after a confidentiality window expires.
ConocoPhillips had argued that the federal Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act expressly barred state regulators — specifically the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) — from releasing data tied to wells drilled on federal leases. The appeals court disagreed, finding no explicit federal restriction on state disclosure authority.
The court noted that Alaska had exercised its own data-gathering and disclosure powers in the reserve even before Congress opened the area to private oil and gas exploration. While the appeals judges agreed with Gleason that the federal law contains no explicit confidentiality mandate, they reached the opposite conclusion about what that absence means for state authority.
The dispute began after ConocoPhillips sought an exemption from the state Department of Natural Resources to extend confidentiality beyond the 24-month window provided under Alaska law. When that request was denied, the company filed suit in 2022 to block the AOGCC from making the data public. The well data has remained confidential throughout the litigation.
By the Numbers
- 24 months: Standard confidentiality period under Alaska law before well data must be disclosed publicly
- 2022: Year ConocoPhillips filed suit to block disclosure
- 2023: Year the district court ruled in ConocoPhillips’ favor — a decision now overturned
- $163 million: Record high bids received at a National Petroleum Reserve lease sale held in March 2026, the first such sale since 2019
- Indiana-sized: The approximate land area of the National Petroleum Reserve, underscoring the scale of energy interest in the region
Zoom Out
The National Petroleum Reserve sits atop the Nanushuk geological formation, which supplies oil to ConocoPhillips’ large-scale Willow development project as well as the Santos-operated Pikka project, which recently began production. The area has drawn intense interest from energy companies given its productive potential.
The tension between federal lease terms and state regulatory authority over oil and gas data is not unique to Alaska. States with significant federal land holdings frequently navigate overlapping jurisdictional claims, particularly as energy development expands into areas previously off-limits to private extraction. Alaska’s public records framework for oil and gas data has been a recurring point of legal and legislative attention.
Acting Attorney General Cori Mills framed the outcome as consistent with Alaska’s long-term development interests. “Alaska’s law both allows resource development now, and encourages further development and exploration in the future,” Mills said in a statement, adding that the state was pleased the court recognized federal law had not displaced Alaska’s approach.
What’s Next
ConocoPhillips has not announced a definitive next step. A company spokesperson confirmed the decision was being evaluated and said the company had not yet decided whether to seek further appeal. The well data at the center of the case remains under a confidentiality hold while the company weighs its options.
If ConocoPhillips does not appeal, the AOGCC would be positioned to release the data in accordance with state law. A further appeal could send the matter to the full Ninth Circuit or, potentially, to the U.S. Supreme Court — though no such action has been announced.
The ruling arrives as interest in the National Petroleum Reserve reaches a high point, with the record-setting March lease sale signaling sustained industry appetite for exploration in the region. How the data disclosure question is ultimately resolved may influence how energy companies approach confidentiality expectations on future federal leases in Alaska.