Natural gas producers for the most part last week backedInterior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s proposed plan to re-open a largefederal reserve site in northern Alaska to oil and natural gasexploration.

The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, which representsthe governors of 29 oil- and gas-producing states, called Babbitt’sdecision a “victory” for Alaska and every other state with aninterest in natural resource development. But the IndependentPetroleum Associaton of America didn’t think the secretary’sproposal went far enough. The independent producer group had hopedInterior would open the entire Northeast quadrant of the NationalPetroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) to oil and gas explorationactivity.

The Interior plan calls for producers to resume leasing on about87% of a 4.6 million-acre-site in the NPR-A, which is located infar north Alaska in the North Slope area between Brooks Range andthe Arctic Ocean, and west of Prudhoe Bay. The reserve region hasbeen off limits to exploratory activity since 1982-1984.

The department’s proposal is open to comments from industry,environmentalists and the public during a 30-day period, whichbegan on Friday and will end Sept. 8th. Babbitt is not expected tomake any substantive changes to the proposal, according to AnneJeffery, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska.The area could be open to leasing within three to six months afterthe secretary signs the decision, she noted.

Comments can be sent to the NPR-A Planning Team, Bureau of LandManagement, Alaska State Office (930), 222 W. 7th Ave. #13,Anchorage, AK, 99513. Also, they can be sent via internet at:jducker@ak.blm.gov, or to the NPR-A website athttp://aurora.ak.blm.gov/npra/before the September deadline.

The Interior proposal follows an 18-month study during which thedepartment, the state of Alaska and local officials studied theenvironmental and economic ramifications of allowing oil and gasexploration and development in the region. If the area is open forleasing, the BLM put the planning area’s oil resource estimate at500 million barrels at $18 per barrel, and 2,200 million barrels at$30 per barrel. Estimates for natural gas resources were notavailable.

Susan Parker

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