Good news for Bristol Bay leasing

Pro-drilling forces see Congressman’s call for more studies as move toward responsible oil and gas development in sensitive area

Rose Ragsdale

For Petroleum News

Though a Democratic congressman has succeeded in getting language calling for more study of oil and gas development in Bristol Bay into an energy bill in Congress, leasing proponents are breathing sighs of relief. They say the amendment offered by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., is a “positive step toward responsible development of Alaska’s oil and gas resources.”

In a memo to members June 12, the Alaska Support Industry Alliance focused on what Hinchey “did not” do rather than what he actually did June 7 in winning approval of his amendment.

“Last Thursday, during the House Appropriations Committee markup for the Interior appropriations bill, (Hinchey) did not offer an amendment to reinstate the North Aleutian (basin) moratorium. Rather, he offered report language asking the Minerals Management Service to perform environmental and economic studies on the impacts of offshore drilling and oil spills, the Alliance said.

Whether the Hinchey amendment is good news or bad news is a matter of perception, says Paul Laird, the Alliance’s executive director.

“I think the perception is that an alternative to what actually happened is a re-imposition of the moratorium on oil and gas exploration and development in Bristol Bay,” Laird said. “This was a better outcome than that.”

Hinchey, along with U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., and Wayne T. Gilchrest, R-Md., are sponsors of the Bristol Bay Protection Act, which would reinstate the moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the North Aleutian Basin. But so far, the trio has made little headway in gaining support for the measure.

Alliance members joined others across the nation earlier by expressing their concern to the congressmen about reimposing a moratorium on leasing in the offshore area. President Bush lifted the moratorium in January, and the MMS has included a lease sale in Bristol Bay in its Five-Year Plan.

“At this point, there are no apparent efforts under way to reinstate the moratorium through the appropriations process,” the Alliance said June 12.

Several energy bills in Congress

The U.S. Senate spent most of the weeks of June 11 and June 18 debating House Resolution 6, a package of bills on renewable fuels, gas mileage, price-gouging and energy efficiency.

H. R. 2641, the report accompanying the House Interior Appropriations bill for fiscal 2008, is the legislation that includes Hinchey’s call for multiple scientific, environmental and meteorological studies of the impact of oil and gas drilling on Bristol Bay.

The language requires extensive studies and coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to study the impact drilling would have on whales and fisheries in Bristol Bay. Hinchey’s language also directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct an economic analysis of how much drilling in Bristol Bay would cost American taxpayers in lost user fee payments from energy companies under provisions of a separate law.

Calling the studies “absolutely critical before Congress even thinks about allowing the Department of Interior to lease away Bristol Bay,” Hinchey said Bristol Bay’s world class fishery brings in $2.1 billion a year, compared to the MMS’ estimates of $7.5 billion in oil revenue that would come from the region over a span of 25-40 years.

“Additionally, we need to get a better grasp of the impact oil spills would have on Bristol Bay, which is located in an area that experiences some of the worst weather in the country,” he said in a statement June 7.

“When the Interior Department is saying that a spill is inevitable, that definitely warrants a thorough examination,” he added.