Environmentalist Suit Chills 88 Energy’s Work in Alaska Reserve

88 Energy Ltd. isn’t expected to continue exploring for oil at its 1.6 billion-barrel Project Peregrine site in Alaska this winter because a lawsuit from environmentalists—and less oil than expected—have made the project too risky a bet to continue work anytime soon, a contractor who manages the project said.

The Sierra Club and other environmental groups in August filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration-approved Project Peregrine oil exploration project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, where Australia-based 88 Energy says it could produce up to 1.6 billion barrels of oil.

The Bureau of Land Management in February affirmed its ...