The administration Wednesday urged congressional energy bill conferees to include in their final draft a provision that would dictate the opening of “a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to environmentally responsible oil and gas exploration and development,” as well as an 80% loan guarantee for a natural gas pipeline from Alaska.

The message was part of an overall administration energy wish list — topped by measures for boosting the nation’s electric power grid — that was sent to the House and Senate conferees by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

Along with the loan guarantee for the Alaska pipeline, the administration also would support accelerated depreciation for the project and an enhanced oil recovery tax credit. What the administration doesn’t want to see in a final bill is the Senate proposal for a price floor tax credit provision “because it would distort markets, could undermine fiscal responsibility, and would likely undermine Canada’s support for construction of the pipeline and thus set back broader bilateral energy integration.” Also, the administration doesn’t want any strings tied to its financial support since it “believes market forces should select the route of the pipeline,” Abraham said.

In addition to the Alaska initiatives, the administration supports provisions in the House and Senate bills designed to increase production on the OCS, and federal onshore and tribal lands — particularly those provisions “that will work to address shortages in the natural gas market and help maintain low prices and adequate supplies for consumers.”

Also on the administration’s list are measures to expedite permitting for new natural gas supplies, expedite handling of appeals on siting of interstate pipelines and provide appropriate incentives for the production of oil and gas.

The letter to conferees wound up by admonishing conferees to cut the tax losses and spending increases in the bill, noting the president’s Fiscal 2004 budget includes tax incentives of just $8 billion over 10 years. The bills under consideration would add up to considerably more.

Abraham railed against “excessive and new authorizations for appropriations and loan guarantees….including numerous unnecessary, duplicative and costly research and development authorizations….These authorizations will create unrealistic expectations of future funding that are extremely unlikely given competing fiscal priorities, including deficit reduction.”

The conferees include 13 senators and nearly 60 members of the House of Representatives (see Daily GPI, Sept. 8). The last few days have been spent on the controversial issue of separating out the non-controversial provisions that can be delegated to staff.

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