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Sen. Murkowski wants drilling in ANWR Alaska Republican offers two bills requiring lease sales on coastal plain; her colleagues aim to put area off-limits as wilderness Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced legislation to allow oil production from the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Chances of the legislation passing would seem unlikely, as the Alaska Republican is in the minority party in the Senate.
But the bills she offered Feb. 15 will at least serve to buffet legislation from other senators, led by Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman, seeking to designate the coastal plain as wilderness. Such a designation would permanently close the area to drilling.
“Now is the time to develop our domestic oil reserves in the ANWR coastal plain,” Murkowski said in a press release. “For far too long, we’ve kept resources under lock and key that could improve our energy security and create badly needed jobs. There’s no excuse for continuing to pay foreign countries for resources we have here.”
Two bills Murkowski introduced two bills, one allowing exploration and production within the coastal plain and another that would allow production from the area only through the use of directional drilling from state land adjacent to the refuge.
The first bill, S. 352, the American Energy Independence and Security Act of 2011, directs the Interior secretary to lease at least 200,000 acres of the coastal plain not later than 22 months after enactment of the law.
The 31-page bill specifies the secretary must offer those tracts considered to have “the greatest potential for the discovery of hydrocarbons.”
A second lease sale would be required by Sept. 30, 2014.
Any production from oil and gas leases would be subject to a royalty of at least 12.5 percent.
“Revenue from ANWR oil production would be divided between environmental mitigation and federal deficit reduction,” said the press release from Murkowski’s office. “The bill would also dedicate a portion of ANWR revenues to fund renewable and alternative energy development, wildlife and fishery habitat programs, energy conservation and low-income energy subsidies.”
Drilling from outside Murkowski said she introduced her second bill, S. 351, the No Surface Occupancy Western Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act, as a compromise. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, has signed on as a co-sponsor.
“While this compromise is not my first choice, I believe it’s a reasonable alternative that should silence any potential controversy over ANWR development,” Murkowski said. “It allows us to increase domestic oil production without the same risk of environmental impact, making it a commonsense solution that everyone should be able to embrace.”
This bill also would require a 200,000-acre lease sale. But drilling would have to be from sites outside the coastal plain.
Encompassing more than 1.5 million acres, the coastal plain is considered highly prospective for possibly billions of barrels of oil. But ANWR has become a top priority among conservationists who believe industry activity would degrade caribou calving grounds and other natural values.
Aside from the Lieberman bill, S. 33, to designate the coastal plain as wilderness, environmental groups are pressing President Obama to make ANWR a national monument.
Further, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages ANWR, is conducting a review on whether to recommend new wilderness designations in the refuge, including the coastal plain.
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