[Eva]

Our oil companies are all more than 50% Middle Eastern. Arco was the last of the domestic oil companies.

[Eva]

That shouldn't have been Middle Eastern, that should have read, Our oil companies are all more than 50% foreign owned. I am not sure what percentage is Middle Eastern, but I do know that the oil companies would not benefit from any attempt to wean the US from OPEC oil.

[alaskanfan]

Our oil companies are all more than 50% Middle Eastern. Arco was the last of the domestic oil companies.

Do you believe that those oil companies would have invested so heavily in the mid east if they had faced the same obstructions (government regulations and red tape and environmentalists lawsuits) there as they face domestically?

IMO it would not make sense. Through lawsuits, government regulation, and unreal demands from labor unions we have effectively exported the greatest portion of our manufacturing jobs.

The reason this effects Alaska more than other states is because we are so young, large and have had so little time to build adequate infrastructure, compounded by the restrictions that environmentalists in large metropolitan areas try to impose on any industry in our state related to natural resources.