WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Wednesday
questioned Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on whether the Department of Interior
will fine energy companies for failing to produce oil and natural gas on
federal leases if those companies have been blocked from exploration or
production by the actions of federal agencies.
Exploration projects by
ConocoPhillips – the CD-5 field in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska – and
Shell have been stalled because of federal obstruction, Murkowski said. Shell’s
plan to drill an exploratory well in the Beaufort Sea
has been held up for years over a EPA air permit.
“Is it the position of the
department that penalties for not producing, whether onshore in NPR-A or
offshore in the Chukchi [and Beaufort seas], would be assessed if it is the
agency that is holding up the production or the attempt to produce?” Murkowski
said. They’re “trying [their] darndest to get to production and it is the
federal government, it is the agencies, that are keeping [them] from doing
this. But if the department’s approach is going to be we’re going to assess
fees, we’re going to assess penalties, because you haven’t been producing, this
is a real issue for us.”
Salazar failed to provide
Murkowski, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and natural Resources
Committee, assurances that penalties would not be assessed when the lack of
production was due to delays caused by federal agencies.
“Mr. Secretary, I did not
hear you say that there will not be fees imposed for non-producing leases if it
is, in fact, our own federal agencies that are prohibiting this production. In
both of these cases it has been the EPA that has held [development] off at
every turn.” Murkowski said. “I would like the assurance that as long as there
is the effort being made, [they] won’t be penalized when it is the federal
government that is holding us back.”
“I would suggest that a
[nearly $4] billion [investment] by Shell demonstrates due diligence over a
5-year period,” Murkowski added.
Video of the full interaction
can be viewed here.
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