U.S. OKs Expanded Oil Drilling in Alaska

iWon News/AP ^ | January 21, 2005 | H. JOSEF HEBERT

[The Loan Arranger]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Citing a need for domestic energy, the government plans to open for exploratory drilling thousands of acres on Alaska's North Slope that have been protected for decades because of migratory birds and caribou.

The Bureau of Land Management has concluded that oil and gas exploration in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska can be conducted with "minimal impact" on the area's wildlife.

While most of the 22 million-acre reserve is open to oil development, its lake-pocked northeastern corner has been fenced off, dating back to the Reagan administration, because of environmental concerns. That area also is viewed as having the highest oil and gas potential within the reserve.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton is expected to sign off on the BLM's recommendation next week, said a department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a final action has not been announced.

The NPRA, which was created in 1923 specifically to have access to oil if needed, is not to be confused with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge farther to the east, which has been the focus of intense debate in Congress over oil development.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, which like the BLM is part of the Interior Department, has said the area around Lake Teshekpuk in the northeast corner of the NPRA is among the most important molting areas in the entire Arctic for wild geese. It is also used for calving and insect relief by herds of caribou.

The BLM, however, has concluded that more than 400,000 acres surrounding Lake Teshekpuk should be opened for exploratory drilling with restrictions. The government estimates the area contains about 2 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil and 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

[TexasCowboy]

Wow! There's a lot of area to explore and develop, and lots of tracts that haven't been leased.

Are those Native Surface ownership tracts leaseable?

[TexasCowboy]

Those are big rigs for work-overs.

Y'all doing a frac?

[thackney]

The Native's are VERY pro-oil & gas. Jobs and income mean a lot to them. The only complaint I heard from the native representatives at last summer's open hearing for the environmental impact study was the road didn't go close enough to the local village. They wanted it extend to make it easier for them to get to work.

[thackney]

Beyond my area of expertise.

I design for the stuff once it gets on of top the ground. My guess would be there is one rig and it has to do all the jobs bigger than what can be handled with a wire line. Alpine is not on the road system. Anything big can only be moved on the ice road, which only lasts a few months. That rig is left at the Alpine area for several years at a time.

I was up there in December and took the pictures while I was out taking pictures of other stuff.

[mewzilla]

And any enviroweenie who whines about it should be asked what he/she drives. I'll bet it won't be a compact.

[thackney]

Here is a picture of exploration in the Alpine Area. You can see the ice road and ice pad. This will all be removed while the ice is still thick. By summer all that will be there is tundra and a christmas tree.

[JimRed]

More crude oil leaks naturally into the ocean every year from undersea oil reserves that has been spilled into the ocean accidentally since the beginning of the 20th century.

So let's work on finding and pumping those leaks. Oh, wait; PETA would object. That would starve the petrolem consuming bacteria.