House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) reintroduced legislation (H.R. 5429) this week that would open 2,000 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling. “There is no logical reason to oppose safe energy exploration and production on ANWR’s northern coastal plain,” Pombo said, adding that President Jimmy Carter created the 20 million-acre area in 1980, setting aside 1.5 million acres on the northern coastal plain for the specific purpose of future energy exploration and development. The 2,000 acres requested to be opened to drilling in ANWR’s 1002 area would be a small fraction of that total, yet it could provide 10.4 billion bbl of recoverable oil, which is more than double the proven reserves in the state of Texas, Pombo said. He predicted that peak oil production from the area being set aside could total 1.5 million bbl/d, which is nearly equal to what the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia every day.

FERC staff will prepare an environmental impact statement on the Guardian Pipeline expansion /extension project proposed to add 105 miles of new pipeline and 537,200 dth/d of capacity to the Guardian system in Wisconsin, . The project will include about 79 miles of 30-inch pipeline, 26 miles of 20-inch pipe and two 39,000 hp compressor stations. Sponsor Northern Border Partners LP says it has firm commitments for all the capacity (see Daily GPI, March 31).

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